10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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281 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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290 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
291 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
294 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
295 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
296 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
297 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
298 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
299 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
300 License'' in the Emacs manual.
302 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
303 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
304 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
306 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
307 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
308 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
309 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
317 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
319 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
320 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
322 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
323 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
324 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
325 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
326 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
327 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
328 License'' in the Emacs manual.
330 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
331 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
332 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
334 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
335 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
336 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
337 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
345 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
348 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
350 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
352 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
353 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
354 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
355 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
356 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
357 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
358 License'' in the Emacs manual.
360 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
361 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
362 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
364 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
365 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
366 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
367 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
376 @top The Gnus Newsreader
380 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
381 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
382 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
385 This manual corresponds to Oort Gnus v0.05
396 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
397 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
399 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
400 being accused of plagiarism:
402 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
403 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
404 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
405 can even read news with it!
407 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
408 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
409 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
410 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
411 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
417 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
418 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
419 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
420 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
421 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
422 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
423 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
424 * Various:: General purpose settings.
425 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
426 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
427 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
428 * Key Index:: Key Index.
431 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
435 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
436 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
437 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
438 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
439 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
440 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
441 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
442 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
443 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
444 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
445 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
449 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
450 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
451 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
455 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
456 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
457 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
458 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
459 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
460 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
461 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
462 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
463 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
464 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
465 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
466 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
467 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
468 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
469 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
470 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
471 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
475 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
476 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
477 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
481 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
482 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
483 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
484 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
485 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
489 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
490 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
491 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
492 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
493 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
497 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
498 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
499 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
500 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
501 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
503 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
504 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
505 * Threading:: How threads are made.
506 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
507 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
508 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
509 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
510 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
511 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
512 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
513 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
514 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
515 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
516 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
517 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
518 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
519 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
520 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
521 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
522 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
523 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
524 or reselecting the current group.
525 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
526 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
527 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
528 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
530 Summary Buffer Format
532 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
533 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
534 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
535 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
539 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
540 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
542 Reply, Followup and Post
544 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
545 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
546 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
547 * Canceling and Superseding::
551 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
552 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
553 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
555 * Generic Marking Commands::
556 * Setting Process Marks::
560 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
561 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
562 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
566 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
567 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
569 Customizing Threading
571 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
572 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
573 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
574 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
578 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
579 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
580 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
581 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
582 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
583 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
587 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
588 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
589 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
593 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
594 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
595 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
596 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
597 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
598 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
599 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
600 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
601 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
602 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
604 Alternative Approaches
606 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
607 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
609 Various Summary Stuff
611 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
612 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
613 * Summary Generation Commands::
614 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
618 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
619 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
620 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
621 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
622 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
626 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
627 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
628 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
629 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
630 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
631 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
632 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
633 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
637 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
638 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
639 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
640 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
641 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
642 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
643 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
644 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
648 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
649 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
650 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
651 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
652 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
653 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
654 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
658 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
659 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
663 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
664 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
665 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
669 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
670 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
671 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
672 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
673 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
674 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
675 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
676 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
677 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
678 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
679 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
680 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
681 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
685 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
686 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
687 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
689 Choosing a Mail Back End
691 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
692 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
693 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
694 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
695 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
696 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
701 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
702 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
703 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
704 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
705 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
706 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
710 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
711 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
712 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
716 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
717 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
718 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
719 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
720 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
724 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
728 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
729 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
730 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
734 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
735 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
739 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
740 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
741 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
742 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
743 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
744 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
745 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
746 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
747 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
748 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
752 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
753 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
754 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
758 * Group Agent Commands::
759 * Summary Agent Commands::
760 * Server Agent Commands::
764 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
765 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
766 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
767 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
768 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
769 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
770 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
771 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
772 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
773 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
774 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
775 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
776 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
777 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
778 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
779 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
780 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
784 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
785 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
786 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
787 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
791 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
792 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
793 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
797 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
798 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
799 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
800 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
801 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
802 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
803 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
804 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
805 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
806 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
807 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
808 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
809 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
810 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
811 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
812 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
813 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
814 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
815 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
819 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
820 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
821 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
822 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
823 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
824 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
825 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
826 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
830 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
831 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
832 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
833 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
834 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
838 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
839 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
840 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
841 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
842 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
846 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
847 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
848 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
849 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
850 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
851 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
852 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
853 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
854 * Frequently Asked Questions::
858 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
859 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
860 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
861 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
862 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
863 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
864 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
865 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
866 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
870 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
871 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
872 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
873 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
874 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
878 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
879 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
880 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
881 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
885 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
886 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
887 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
888 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
889 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
890 * Group Info:: The group info format.
891 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
892 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
893 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
897 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
898 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
899 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
900 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
901 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
902 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
906 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
907 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
911 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
912 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
918 @chapter Starting Gnus
923 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
924 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
927 @findex gnus-other-frame
928 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
929 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
930 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
932 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
933 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
934 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
936 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
937 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
940 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
941 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
942 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
943 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
944 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
945 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
946 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
947 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
948 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
949 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
950 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
954 @node Finding the News
955 @section Finding the News
958 @vindex gnus-select-method
960 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
961 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
962 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
963 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
966 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
967 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
970 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
973 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
976 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
979 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
980 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
981 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
983 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
985 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
986 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
987 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
988 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
989 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
990 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
992 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
993 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
994 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
995 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
997 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
998 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
999 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1000 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1001 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1002 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1003 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1004 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1005 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1008 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1010 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1011 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1012 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1013 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1014 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1015 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1017 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1019 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1020 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1021 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1022 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1023 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1024 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1027 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1028 you would typically set this variable to
1031 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1035 @node The First Time
1036 @section The First Time
1037 @cindex first time usage
1039 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
1040 be subscribed by default.
1042 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1043 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1044 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1045 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1048 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1049 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1050 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1052 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1053 help you with most common problems.
1055 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1056 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1060 @node The Server is Down
1061 @section The Server is Down
1062 @cindex server errors
1064 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1065 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1066 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1068 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1069 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1070 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1071 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1072 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1073 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1074 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1076 @findex gnus-no-server
1077 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1079 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1080 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1081 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1082 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1083 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1084 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1085 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1089 @section Slave Gnusae
1092 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1093 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1094 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1095 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1097 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1098 @code{.newsrc} file.
1100 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1101 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1102 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1103 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1104 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1105 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1106 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1108 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1109 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1110 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1111 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1112 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1113 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1114 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1115 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1117 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1118 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1121 @node Fetching a Group
1122 @section Fetching a Group
1123 @cindex fetching a group
1125 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1126 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1127 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
1128 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1129 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1130 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1136 @cindex subscription
1138 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1139 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1140 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1141 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1142 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1143 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1144 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1145 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1146 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1149 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1150 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1151 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1155 @node Checking New Groups
1156 @subsection Checking New Groups
1158 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1159 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1160 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1161 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1162 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1163 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1164 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1165 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1166 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1167 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1169 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1170 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1171 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1172 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1173 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1174 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1175 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1176 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1177 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1178 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1179 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1181 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1182 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1183 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1184 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1185 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1186 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1189 @node Subscription Methods
1190 @subsection Subscription Methods
1192 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1193 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1194 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1196 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1197 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1199 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1203 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1204 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1205 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1206 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1207 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1209 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1210 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1211 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1212 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1214 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1215 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1216 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1218 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1219 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1220 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1221 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1222 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1223 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1224 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1225 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1226 up. Or something like that.
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1230 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1231 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1232 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1236 Kill all new groups.
1238 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1239 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1240 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1241 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1242 topic parameter that looks like
1248 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1251 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1256 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1257 A closely related variable is
1258 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1259 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1260 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1261 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1264 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1265 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1266 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1267 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1270 @node Filtering New Groups
1271 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1273 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1274 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1275 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1278 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1282 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1283 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1284 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1285 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1286 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1287 subscribing these groups.
1288 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1289 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1291 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1292 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1293 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1294 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1295 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1296 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1297 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1298 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1300 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1301 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1302 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1303 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1304 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1305 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1306 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1307 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1308 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1309 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1311 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1312 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1315 @node Changing Servers
1316 @section Changing Servers
1317 @cindex changing servers
1319 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1320 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1321 very flaky and you want to use another.
1323 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1324 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1328 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1329 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1330 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1331 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1334 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1335 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1336 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1337 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1339 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1340 @findex gnus-change-server
1341 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1342 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1343 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1344 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1345 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1347 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1348 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1349 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1350 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1351 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1353 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1354 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1355 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1356 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1357 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1358 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1360 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1361 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1362 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1366 @section Startup Files
1367 @cindex startup files
1372 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1373 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1375 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1376 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1377 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1378 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1379 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1380 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1381 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1383 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1384 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1385 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1386 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1387 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1388 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1390 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1391 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1392 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1393 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1394 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1395 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1396 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1397 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1398 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1399 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1401 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1402 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1403 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1404 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1405 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1406 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1407 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1408 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1409 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1410 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1411 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1412 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1414 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1415 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1416 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1417 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1419 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1420 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1421 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1422 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1423 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1424 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1425 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1426 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1427 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1428 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1431 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1432 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1434 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1435 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1438 @vindex gnus-init-file
1439 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1440 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1441 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1442 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1443 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1444 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1445 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1446 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1447 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1453 @cindex dribble file
1456 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1457 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1458 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1459 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1460 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1463 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1464 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1467 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1468 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1469 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1471 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1472 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1473 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1474 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1475 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1476 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1478 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1479 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1480 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1483 @node The Active File
1484 @section The Active File
1486 @cindex ignored groups
1488 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1489 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1490 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1492 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1493 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1494 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1495 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1496 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1497 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1498 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1501 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1502 @c if you set it to anything else.
1504 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1506 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1507 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1508 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1510 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1511 you actually subscribe to.
1513 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1514 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1515 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1516 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1518 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1519 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1520 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1521 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1522 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1523 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1525 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1526 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1527 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1530 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1531 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1532 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1533 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1534 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1535 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1537 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1538 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1540 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1541 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1543 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1544 secondary select methods.
1547 @node Startup Variables
1548 @section Startup Variables
1552 @item gnus-load-hook
1553 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1554 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1555 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1556 times you start Gnus.
1558 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1559 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1560 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1562 @item gnus-startup-hook
1563 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1564 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1566 @item gnus-started-hook
1567 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1568 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1571 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1572 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1573 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1574 generating the group buffer.
1576 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1577 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1578 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1579 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1580 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1581 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1582 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1583 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1585 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1586 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1587 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1588 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1589 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1590 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1592 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1593 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1594 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1596 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1597 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1598 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1600 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1601 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1602 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1603 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1609 @chapter Group Buffer
1610 @cindex group buffer
1612 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1614 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1615 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1616 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1617 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1618 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1619 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1620 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1621 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1622 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1623 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1624 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1625 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1626 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1627 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1628 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1629 @c human rights at 9...
1632 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1633 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1634 long as Gnus is active.
1638 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1639 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1640 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1641 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1642 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1643 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1644 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1645 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1651 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1652 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1653 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1654 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1655 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1656 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1657 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1658 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1659 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1660 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1661 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1662 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1663 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1664 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1665 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1666 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1667 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1671 @node Group Buffer Format
1672 @section Group Buffer Format
1675 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1676 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1677 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1681 @node Group Line Specification
1682 @subsection Group Line Specification
1683 @cindex group buffer format
1685 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1686 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1688 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1691 25: news.announce.newusers
1692 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1697 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1698 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1699 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1700 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1702 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1703 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1704 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1705 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1706 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1707 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1709 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1711 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1712 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1713 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1714 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1715 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1717 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1718 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1719 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1721 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1726 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1729 Whether the group is subscribed.
1732 Level of subscribedness.
1735 Number of unread articles.
1738 Number of dormant articles.
1741 Number of ticked articles.
1744 Number of read articles.
1747 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1748 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1750 Gnus uses this estimation because the NNTP protocol provides efficient
1751 access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting the true
1752 unread message count is not possible efficiently. For hysterical
1753 raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of unread
1754 messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1755 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the
1756 back end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1757 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1760 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1763 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1772 Newsgroup description.
1775 @samp{m} if moderated.
1778 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1787 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1791 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1794 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1795 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1796 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1797 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1798 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1801 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1803 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1807 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1810 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1814 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1815 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1816 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1817 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1818 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1819 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1824 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1825 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1826 group, or a bogus native group.
1829 @node Group Modeline Specification
1830 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1831 @cindex group modeline
1833 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1834 The mode line can be changed by setting
1835 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1836 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1840 The native news server.
1842 The native select method.
1846 @node Group Highlighting
1847 @subsection Group Highlighting
1848 @cindex highlighting
1849 @cindex group highlighting
1851 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1852 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1853 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1854 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1855 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1857 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1861 (cond (window-system
1862 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1863 (defface my-group-face-1
1864 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1865 (defface my-group-face-2
1866 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1867 (defface my-group-face-3
1868 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1869 (defface my-group-face-4
1870 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1871 (defface my-group-face-5
1872 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1874 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1875 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1876 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1877 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1878 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1879 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1882 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1884 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1891 The number of unread articles in the group.
1895 Whether the group is a mail group.
1897 The level of the group.
1899 The score of the group.
1901 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1903 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1904 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1906 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1907 topic being inserted.
1910 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1911 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1912 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1914 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1915 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1916 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1917 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1918 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1921 @node Group Maneuvering
1922 @section Group Maneuvering
1923 @cindex group movement
1925 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1926 expected, hopefully.
1932 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1933 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1934 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1940 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1941 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1942 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1946 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1947 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1951 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1952 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1956 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1957 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1958 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1962 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1963 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1964 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1967 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1973 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1974 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1975 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1980 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1981 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1982 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1986 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1987 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1988 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1991 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1992 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1993 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1994 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1998 @node Selecting a Group
1999 @section Selecting a Group
2000 @cindex group selection
2005 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2006 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2007 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2008 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2009 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2010 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2011 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2012 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2013 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2014 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2016 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2017 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2018 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2020 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2021 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2026 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2027 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2028 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2029 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2030 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2034 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2035 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2036 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2037 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2038 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2039 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2040 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2041 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2042 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2043 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2046 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2047 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2048 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2049 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2050 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2053 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2054 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2055 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2056 doing any processing of its contents
2057 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2058 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2059 manner will have no permanent effects.
2063 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2064 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
2065 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2066 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2067 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2068 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2069 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2070 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2073 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2074 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2075 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2076 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2077 Which article this is is controlled by the
2078 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2084 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2087 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2090 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2093 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2097 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2098 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2100 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2101 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2102 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2103 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2107 @node Subscription Commands
2108 @section Subscription Commands
2109 @cindex subscription
2117 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2118 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2119 Toggle subscription to the current group
2120 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2126 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2127 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2128 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2129 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2135 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2136 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2137 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2143 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2144 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2147 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2148 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2149 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2150 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2151 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2157 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2158 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2162 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2163 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2166 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2167 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2168 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2169 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2170 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2171 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2172 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2173 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2174 @file{.newsrc} file.
2178 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2188 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2189 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2190 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2191 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2192 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2193 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2198 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2199 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2200 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2204 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2205 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2206 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2208 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2209 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2210 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2211 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2212 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2213 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2220 @section Group Levels
2224 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2225 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2226 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2227 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2228 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2230 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2236 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2237 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2238 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2239 prompted for a level.
2242 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2243 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2244 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2245 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2246 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2247 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2248 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2249 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2250 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2251 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2252 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2253 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2254 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2255 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2256 reasons of efficiency.
2258 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2259 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2261 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2262 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2263 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2264 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2265 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2266 groups are hidden, in a way.
2268 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2269 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2270 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2271 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2272 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2273 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2275 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2276 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2277 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2278 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2279 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2280 list of killed groups.)
2282 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2283 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2284 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2286 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2287 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2288 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2289 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2290 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2291 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2292 relevant valid ranges.
2294 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2295 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2296 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2297 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2298 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2299 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2302 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2303 one with the best level.
2305 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2306 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2307 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2310 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2311 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2312 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2313 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2316 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2317 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2318 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2319 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2321 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2322 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2323 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2324 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2325 to 5. The default is 6.
2329 @section Group Score
2334 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2335 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2336 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2339 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2340 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2341 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2342 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2343 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2344 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2345 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2346 least significant part.))
2348 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2349 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2350 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2351 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2352 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2353 action after each summary exit, you can add
2354 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2355 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2356 slow things down somewhat.
2359 @node Marking Groups
2360 @section Marking Groups
2361 @cindex marking groups
2363 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2364 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2365 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2366 bidding on those groups.
2368 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2369 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2370 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2378 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2379 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2385 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2386 Remove the mark from the current group
2387 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2391 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2392 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2396 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2397 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2401 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2402 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2406 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2407 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2408 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2411 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2413 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2414 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2415 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2416 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2417 the command to be executed.
2420 @node Foreign Groups
2421 @section Foreign Groups
2422 @cindex foreign groups
2424 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2425 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2426 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2427 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2434 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2435 @cindex making groups
2436 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2437 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2438 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2442 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2443 @cindex renaming groups
2444 Rename the current group to something else
2445 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2446 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2452 @findex gnus-group-customize
2453 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2457 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2458 @cindex renaming groups
2459 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2460 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2464 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2465 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2466 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2470 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2471 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2472 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2476 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2478 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2479 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2484 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2485 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2489 @cindex (ding) archive
2490 @cindex archive group
2491 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2492 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2493 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2494 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2495 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2496 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2497 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2501 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2503 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2504 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2505 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2506 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2510 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2512 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2513 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2514 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2518 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2519 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2521 Make a group based on some file or other
2522 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2523 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2524 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2525 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2526 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2527 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2528 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2529 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2530 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2534 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2535 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2536 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2537 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2541 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2546 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2547 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2548 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2549 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2550 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2551 @xref{Web Searches}.
2553 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2554 to a particular group by using a match string like
2555 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2558 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2559 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2560 This function will delete the current group
2561 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2562 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2563 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2564 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2565 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2569 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2570 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2571 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2575 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2576 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2577 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2580 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2583 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2584 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2585 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2586 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2587 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2588 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2592 @node Group Parameters
2593 @section Group Parameters
2594 @cindex group parameters
2596 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2597 Here's an example group parameter list:
2600 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2604 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2605 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2606 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2607 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2609 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2610 is an alist of regexps and values.
2612 The following group parameters can be used:
2617 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2620 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2623 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2624 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2625 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2626 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2627 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2629 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2630 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2631 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2632 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2633 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2634 list address instead.
2636 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2640 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2643 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2646 It is totally ignored
2647 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2648 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2650 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2651 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2652 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2653 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2654 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2656 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2657 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2658 sending the message.
2660 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2661 @cindex Mail List Groups
2662 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2663 entering summary buffer.
2665 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2669 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2670 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2671 of whether it has any unread articles.
2673 @item broken-reply-to
2674 @cindex broken-reply-to
2675 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2676 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2677 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2678 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2679 broken behavior. So there!
2683 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2684 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2688 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2689 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2690 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2695 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2696 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2697 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2698 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2699 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2700 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2701 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2705 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2706 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2707 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2709 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2712 @cindex total-expire
2713 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2714 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2715 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2716 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2719 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2723 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2724 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2725 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2726 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2727 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2728 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2731 @cindex score file group parameter
2732 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2733 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2734 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2737 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2738 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2739 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2740 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2743 @cindex admin-address
2744 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2745 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2746 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2747 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2751 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2752 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2756 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2759 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2760 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2763 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2767 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2769 Here are some examples:
2773 Display only read articles.
2776 Display everything except expirable articles.
2778 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2779 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2783 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2784 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2785 @code{read}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2786 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2787 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{seen} and @code{recent}.
2791 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2792 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2793 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2797 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2798 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2799 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2804 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2805 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2806 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2808 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2810 @item ignored-charsets
2811 @cindex ignored-charset
2812 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2813 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2814 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2816 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2819 @cindex posting-style
2820 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2821 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2822 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2823 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2824 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2826 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2827 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2828 like this in the group parameters:
2833 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2838 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2839 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2843 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2844 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2845 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2846 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2847 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2851 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2852 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2853 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2854 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2856 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2857 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2858 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2859 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2862 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2863 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2867 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2870 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2871 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2872 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2873 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2874 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2875 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2876 @code{eval}ed there.
2878 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2879 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2880 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2881 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2882 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2886 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2887 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2888 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2889 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2890 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2892 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2893 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2897 (setq gnus-parameters
2899 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2900 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2901 (gnus-summary-line-format
2902 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2906 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2910 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2914 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2917 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2918 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2921 @node Listing Groups
2922 @section Listing Groups
2923 @cindex group listing
2925 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2933 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2934 List all groups that have unread articles
2935 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2936 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2937 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2938 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2945 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2946 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2947 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2948 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2949 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2950 unsubscribed groups).
2954 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2955 List all unread groups on a specific level
2956 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2957 with no unread articles.
2961 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2962 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2963 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2964 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2969 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2970 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2974 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2975 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2976 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2980 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2981 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2985 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2986 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2987 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2988 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2989 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2990 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2991 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2992 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2996 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2997 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2998 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3002 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3003 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3004 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3008 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3009 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3013 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3014 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3018 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3019 List groups limited within the current selection
3020 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3024 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3025 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3029 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3030 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3034 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3035 @cindex visible group parameter
3036 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3037 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3038 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3039 get the same effect.
3041 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3042 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3043 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3044 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3045 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3048 @node Sorting Groups
3049 @section Sorting Groups
3050 @cindex sorting groups
3052 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3053 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3054 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3055 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3056 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3057 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3062 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3063 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3064 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3066 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3067 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3068 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3070 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3071 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3072 Sort by group level.
3074 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3075 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3076 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3078 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3079 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3080 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3081 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3083 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3084 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3085 Sort by number of unread articles.
3087 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3088 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3089 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3091 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3092 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3093 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3098 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3099 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3103 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3104 some sorting criteria:
3108 @kindex G S a (Group)
3109 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3110 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3111 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3114 @kindex G S u (Group)
3115 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3116 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3117 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3120 @kindex G S l (Group)
3121 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3122 Sort the group buffer by group level
3123 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3126 @kindex G S v (Group)
3127 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3128 Sort the group buffer by group score
3129 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3132 @kindex G S r (Group)
3133 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3134 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3135 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3138 @kindex G S m (Group)
3139 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3140 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3141 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3145 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3146 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3148 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3149 commands will sort in reverse order.
3151 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3155 @kindex G P a (Group)
3156 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3157 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3158 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3161 @kindex G P u (Group)
3162 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3163 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3164 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3167 @kindex G P l (Group)
3168 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3169 Sort the groups by group level
3170 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3173 @kindex G P v (Group)
3174 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3175 Sort the groups by group score
3176 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3179 @kindex G P r (Group)
3180 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3181 Sort the groups by group rank
3182 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3185 @kindex G P m (Group)
3186 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3187 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3188 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3192 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3196 @node Group Maintenance
3197 @section Group Maintenance
3198 @cindex bogus groups
3203 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3204 Find bogus groups and delete them
3205 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3209 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3210 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3211 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3212 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3213 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3217 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3218 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3219 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3220 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3221 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3222 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3225 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3226 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3227 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3228 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3233 @node Browse Foreign Server
3234 @section Browse Foreign Server
3235 @cindex foreign servers
3236 @cindex browsing servers
3241 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3242 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3243 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3244 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3247 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3248 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3249 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3250 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3252 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3257 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3258 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3262 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3263 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3266 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3267 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3268 Enter the current group and display the first article
3269 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3272 @kindex RET (Browse)
3273 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3274 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3278 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3279 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3280 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3286 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3287 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3291 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3292 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3293 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3298 @section Exiting Gnus
3299 @cindex exiting Gnus
3301 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3306 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3307 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3308 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3309 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3313 @findex gnus-group-exit
3314 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3315 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3319 @findex gnus-group-quit
3320 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3321 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3324 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3325 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3326 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3327 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3328 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3333 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3334 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3335 trying to customize meta-variables.
3340 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3341 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3342 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3348 @section Group Topics
3351 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3352 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3353 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3354 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3355 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3356 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3360 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3361 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3372 2: alt.religion.emacs
3375 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3377 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3378 13: comp.sources.unix
3381 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3383 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3384 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3385 is a toggling command.)
3387 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3388 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3389 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3390 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3393 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3394 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3395 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3398 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3402 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3403 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3404 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3405 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3406 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3410 @node Topic Commands
3411 @subsection Topic Commands
3412 @cindex topic commands
3414 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3415 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3416 definitions slightly.
3418 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3419 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3420 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3421 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3422 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3423 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3425 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3432 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3433 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3434 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3438 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3440 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3441 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3442 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3443 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3446 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3447 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3448 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3449 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3453 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3454 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3455 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3456 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3462 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3463 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3464 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3468 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3469 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3470 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3473 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3474 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3475 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3476 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3477 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3479 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3480 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3484 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3485 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3492 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3494 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3495 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3496 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3497 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3498 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3499 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3503 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3509 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3510 Move the current group to some other topic
3511 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3512 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3516 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3517 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3521 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3522 Copy the current group to some other topic
3523 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3524 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3528 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3529 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3530 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3534 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3535 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3536 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3540 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3541 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3542 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3543 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3544 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3545 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3546 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3549 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3550 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3554 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3555 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3556 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3560 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3561 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3562 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3566 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3567 Toggle hiding empty topics
3568 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3572 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3573 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3574 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3577 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3578 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3579 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3580 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3583 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3584 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3585 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3586 expiry process (if any)
3587 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3591 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3592 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3595 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3596 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3597 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3601 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3602 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3603 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3606 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3607 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3608 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3611 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3612 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3613 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3617 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3618 @cindex group parameters
3619 @cindex topic parameters
3621 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3622 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3627 @node Topic Variables
3628 @subsection Topic Variables
3629 @cindex topic variables
3631 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3632 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3634 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3635 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3636 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3649 Number of groups in the topic.
3651 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3653 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3656 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3657 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3658 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3661 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3662 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3664 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3665 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3666 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3670 @subsection Topic Sorting
3671 @cindex topic sorting
3673 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3679 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3680 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3681 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3682 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3685 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3686 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3687 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3688 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3691 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3692 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3693 Sort the current topic by group level
3694 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3697 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3698 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3699 Sort the current topic by group score
3700 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3703 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3704 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3705 Sort the current topic by group rank
3706 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3709 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3710 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3711 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3712 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3715 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3716 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3717 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3718 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3722 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3725 @node Topic Topology
3726 @subsection Topic Topology
3727 @cindex topic topology
3730 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3736 2: alt.religion.emacs
3739 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3741 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3742 13: comp.sources.unix
3745 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3746 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3747 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3752 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3753 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3757 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3758 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3759 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3760 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3761 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3762 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3764 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3765 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3766 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3769 @node Topic Parameters
3770 @subsection Topic Parameters
3771 @cindex topic parameters
3773 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3774 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3775 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3777 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3782 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3783 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3784 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3787 @item subscribe-level
3788 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3789 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3790 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3794 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3795 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3796 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3797 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3803 2: alt.religion.emacs
3807 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3809 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3810 13: comp.sources.unix
3814 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3815 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3816 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3817 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3818 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3819 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3821 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3822 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3823 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3824 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3825 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3827 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3828 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3829 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3830 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3831 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3832 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3833 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3834 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3837 @node Misc Group Stuff
3838 @section Misc Group Stuff
3841 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3842 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3843 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3844 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3845 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3852 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3853 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3854 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3858 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3859 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3860 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3861 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3862 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3863 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3864 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3868 @findex gnus-group-mail
3869 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3870 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3871 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3872 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3876 @findex gnus-group-news
3877 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3878 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3879 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3881 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3882 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3883 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3884 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3885 for this to work though.
3889 Variables for the group buffer:
3893 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3894 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3895 is called after the group buffer has been
3898 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3899 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3900 is called after the group buffer is
3901 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3904 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3905 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3906 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3907 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3909 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3910 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3911 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3912 whether they are empty or not.
3914 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3915 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3916 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3917 non-ASCII group names.
3921 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3922 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
3925 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3926 @cindex UTF-8 group names
3927 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3928 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
3929 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
3930 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
3934 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
3935 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
3940 @node Scanning New Messages
3941 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3942 @cindex new messages
3943 @cindex scanning new news
3949 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3950 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3951 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3952 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3953 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3954 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3959 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3960 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3961 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3962 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3963 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3964 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3965 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3967 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3968 @cindex activating groups
3970 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3971 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3976 @findex gnus-group-restart
3977 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3978 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3979 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
3983 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3984 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3986 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3987 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3991 @node Group Information
3992 @subsection Group Information
3993 @cindex group information
3994 @cindex information on groups
4001 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4002 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4005 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4006 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4007 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4008 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4009 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4010 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4011 for fetching the file.
4013 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
4014 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4018 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4020 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4021 @cindex describing groups
4022 @cindex group description
4023 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4024 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4025 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4029 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4030 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4031 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4038 @findex gnus-version
4039 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4043 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4044 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4047 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4050 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4051 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4055 @node Group Timestamp
4056 @subsection Group Timestamp
4058 @cindex group timestamps
4060 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
4061 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4062 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4065 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4068 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4070 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4071 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4074 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4075 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4078 This will result in lines looking like:
4081 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4082 0: custom 19961002T012713
4085 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4086 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4090 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4091 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4094 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4095 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4099 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4100 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %Ud\n")
4101 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4102 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4103 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)))
4108 @subsection File Commands
4109 @cindex file commands
4115 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4116 @vindex gnus-init-file
4117 @cindex reading init file
4118 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4119 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4123 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4124 @cindex saving .newsrc
4125 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4126 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4127 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4130 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4131 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4132 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4137 @node Sieve Commands
4138 @subsection Sieve Commands
4139 @cindex group sieve commands
4141 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4142 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4143 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4144 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4145 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4147 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4148 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4149 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4150 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4151 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4152 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4153 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4154 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4155 regenerate the Sieve script.
4157 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4158 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4159 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4160 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4161 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4162 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4163 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4164 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4165 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4166 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4169 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4170 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4175 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4181 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4182 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4183 @cindex generating sieve script
4184 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4185 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4189 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4190 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4191 @cindex updating sieve script
4192 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4193 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4194 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4199 @node Summary Buffer
4200 @chapter Summary Buffer
4201 @cindex summary buffer
4203 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4204 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4206 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4207 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4209 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4212 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4213 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4214 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4215 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4216 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4217 * Delayed Articles::
4218 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4219 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4220 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4221 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4222 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4223 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4224 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4225 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4226 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4227 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4228 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4229 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4230 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4231 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4232 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4233 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4234 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4235 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4236 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4237 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4238 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4239 or reselecting the current group.
4240 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4241 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4242 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4243 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4247 @node Summary Buffer Format
4248 @section Summary Buffer Format
4249 @cindex summary buffer format
4253 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4254 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4255 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4261 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4262 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4263 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4264 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4267 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4268 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4269 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4270 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4271 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4272 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
4273 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4274 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
4275 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
4276 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
4277 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
4280 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4281 'mail-extract-address-components)
4284 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4285 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4286 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4287 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4290 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4291 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4293 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4294 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4295 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4296 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4297 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4299 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4300 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4301 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4302 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4303 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4304 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4306 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%) %s\n}.
4308 The following format specification characters and extended format
4309 specification(s) are understood:
4315 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4316 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4318 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4319 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4320 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4322 Full @code{From} header.
4324 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4326 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
4327 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
4329 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4330 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4331 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4332 may be more thorough.
4334 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4337 Number of lines in the article.
4339 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4340 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4342 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4344 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4347 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4348 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4350 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4351 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4353 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4354 for adopted articles.
4356 One space for each thread level.
4358 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4360 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4363 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4364 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4365 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4368 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4370 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4371 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4372 default level. If the difference between
4373 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4374 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4382 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4384 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4390 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4391 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4393 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4394 article has any children.
4400 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4401 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4403 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4404 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4405 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4406 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4407 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4408 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4411 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4412 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4413 There can only be one such area.
4415 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4416 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
4417 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4418 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4419 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4420 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4422 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4423 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4425 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
4428 @node To From Newsgroups
4429 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4433 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4434 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4435 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4436 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4437 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4441 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4442 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4443 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4447 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4448 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4451 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4452 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4455 @findex gnus-extra-header
4456 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4457 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4458 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4461 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4465 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4466 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4467 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4468 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4469 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4470 headers are used instead.
4474 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4475 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4476 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4477 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4480 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4481 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4482 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4483 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4485 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4489 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4491 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4492 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4493 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4494 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4498 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4501 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4502 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4509 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4510 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4513 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4514 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4516 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4517 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4518 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4519 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4521 Here are the elements you can play with:
4527 Unprefixed group name.
4529 Current article number.
4531 Current article score.
4535 Number of unread articles in this group.
4537 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4540 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4541 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4542 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4543 and no unselected ones.
4545 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4546 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4548 Subject of the current article.
4550 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4552 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4554 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4556 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4558 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4560 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4564 @node Summary Highlighting
4565 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4569 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4570 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4571 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4572 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4573 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4575 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4576 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4577 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4578 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4580 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4581 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4582 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4583 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4585 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4586 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4587 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4588 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4589 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4590 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4593 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4594 ((> score default) . bold))
4596 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4597 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4601 @node Summary Maneuvering
4602 @section Summary Maneuvering
4603 @cindex summary movement
4605 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4606 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4608 None of these commands select articles.
4613 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4614 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4615 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4616 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4617 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4621 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4622 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4623 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4624 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4625 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4628 @kindex G g (Summary)
4629 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4630 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4631 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4634 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4635 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4636 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4637 to the group buffer.
4639 Variables related to summary movement:
4643 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4644 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4645 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4646 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
4647 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4648 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4649 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
4650 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4651 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
4652 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4653 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4654 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4655 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4656 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4658 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4659 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4660 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4661 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4662 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4663 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4664 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4666 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4668 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4669 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4670 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4671 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4672 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4674 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4675 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4676 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4677 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4678 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4679 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4680 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4681 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4684 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4685 the given number of lines from the top.
4690 @node Choosing Articles
4691 @section Choosing Articles
4692 @cindex selecting articles
4695 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4696 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4700 @node Choosing Commands
4701 @subsection Choosing Commands
4703 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4704 and they all select and display an article.
4706 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4707 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4711 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4712 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4713 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4714 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4719 @kindex G n (Summary)
4720 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4721 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4722 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4727 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4728 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4729 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4734 @kindex G N (Summary)
4735 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4736 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4741 @kindex G P (Summary)
4742 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4743 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4746 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4747 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4748 Go to the next article with the same subject
4749 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4752 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4753 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4754 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4755 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4759 @kindex G f (Summary)
4761 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4762 Go to the first unread article
4763 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4767 @kindex G b (Summary)
4769 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4770 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4771 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4772 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4777 @kindex G l (Summary)
4778 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4779 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4782 @kindex G o (Summary)
4783 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4785 @cindex article history
4786 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4787 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4788 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4789 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4790 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4791 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4796 @kindex G j (Summary)
4797 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4798 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4799 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4804 @node Choosing Variables
4805 @subsection Choosing Variables
4807 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4810 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4811 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4812 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4813 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4814 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4815 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4817 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4818 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4819 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4820 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4822 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4823 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4824 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4825 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4826 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4827 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4828 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4829 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4830 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4831 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4832 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4833 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4834 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4835 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4840 @node Paging the Article
4841 @section Scrolling the Article
4842 @cindex article scrolling
4847 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4848 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4849 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4850 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4851 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4854 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4855 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4856 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4859 @kindex RET (Summary)
4860 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4861 Scroll the current article one line forward
4862 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4865 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4866 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4867 Scroll the current article one line backward
4868 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4872 @kindex A g (Summary)
4874 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4875 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4876 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4877 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4878 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4879 the way it came from the server.
4881 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4882 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4883 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4886 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4891 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4896 @kindex A < (Summary)
4897 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4898 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4899 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4904 @kindex A > (Summary)
4905 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4906 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4910 @kindex A s (Summary)
4912 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4913 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4914 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4918 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4919 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4924 @node Reply Followup and Post
4925 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4928 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4929 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4930 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4931 * Canceling and Superseding::
4935 @node Summary Mail Commands
4936 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4938 @cindex composing mail
4940 Commands for composing a mail message:
4946 @kindex S r (Summary)
4948 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4949 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4950 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4951 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4952 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4957 @kindex S R (Summary)
4958 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4959 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4960 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4961 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4962 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4965 @kindex S w (Summary)
4966 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4967 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4968 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4969 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4970 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4973 @kindex S V (Summary)
4974 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4975 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4976 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4977 the process/prefix convention.
4980 @kindex S v (Summary)
4981 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
4982 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
4983 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
4984 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4985 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
4986 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
4990 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4991 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
4992 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4993 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4994 Forward the current article to some other person
4995 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
4996 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
4997 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
4998 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
4999 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5000 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5001 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5002 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5003 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
5008 @kindex S m (Summary)
5009 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5010 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5011 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5012 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5013 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5018 @kindex S i (Summary)
5019 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5020 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5021 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5022 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5024 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5025 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5026 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5027 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5028 for this to work though.
5031 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5033 @cindex bouncing mail
5034 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5035 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5036 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5037 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5038 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5039 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
5040 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5041 very well fail, though.
5044 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5046 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5047 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5048 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5049 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5050 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5051 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5052 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5053 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5055 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5056 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5057 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5058 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5059 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
5061 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5062 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5065 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5066 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
5067 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5068 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
5069 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5072 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5074 @cindex crossposting
5075 @cindex excessive crossposting
5076 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5077 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5079 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5080 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5081 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5082 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5083 command understands the process/prefix convention
5084 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5088 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5089 Manual}, for more information.
5092 @node Summary Post Commands
5093 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5095 @cindex composing news
5097 Commands for posting a news article:
5103 @kindex S p (Summary)
5104 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5105 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5106 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5107 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5108 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5113 @kindex S f (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5115 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5116 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5120 @kindex S F (Summary)
5122 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5123 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5124 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5125 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5126 process/prefix convention.
5129 @kindex S n (Summary)
5130 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5131 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5132 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5135 @kindex S N (Summary)
5136 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5137 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5138 message through mail and include the original message
5139 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5140 the process/prefix convention.
5143 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5144 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5145 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5146 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
5147 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
5148 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
5149 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
5150 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
5151 as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
5152 forward as an rfc822 MIME section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
5153 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
5154 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
5155 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 MIME section.
5158 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
5161 @cindex making digests
5162 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5163 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
5164 process/prefix convention.
5167 @kindex S u (Summary)
5168 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5169 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5170 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5171 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5174 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5175 Manual}, for more information.
5178 @node Summary Message Commands
5179 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5183 @kindex S y (Summary)
5184 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5185 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5186 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5187 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5188 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5193 @node Canceling and Superseding
5194 @subsection Canceling Articles
5195 @cindex canceling articles
5196 @cindex superseding articles
5198 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5199 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5201 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5203 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5205 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5206 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5207 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5208 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5209 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5210 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5212 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5213 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5216 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5217 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5218 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5220 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5221 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5222 your original article.
5224 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5226 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5227 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5228 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5231 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5232 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5233 have posted almost the same article twice.
5235 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5236 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5237 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5238 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5239 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5240 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5241 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5242 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5243 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5244 canceled/superseded.
5246 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5248 @node Delayed Articles
5249 @section Delayed Articles
5250 @cindex delayed sending
5251 @cindex send delayed
5253 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5254 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5255 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5256 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5259 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5262 @findex gnus-delay-article
5263 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5264 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5265 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5266 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5270 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5271 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5272 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5273 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5276 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5277 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5278 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5281 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5282 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5283 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5284 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5285 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5286 that means a time tomorrow.
5289 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5290 couple of variables:
5293 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5294 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5295 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5296 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5298 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5299 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5300 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5301 formats described above.
5303 @item gnus-delay-group
5304 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5305 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5306 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5307 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5309 @item gnus-delay-header
5310 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5311 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5312 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5313 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5316 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5317 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5318 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5319 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5320 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5322 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5323 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5324 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5325 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5326 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5327 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5330 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5331 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5332 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5333 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5334 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5335 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5336 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5337 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5339 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5340 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5341 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5342 forget to set that up :-)
5346 @node Marking Articles
5347 @section Marking Articles
5348 @cindex article marking
5349 @cindex article ticking
5352 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5354 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5355 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5356 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5358 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5361 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5362 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5363 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5367 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5371 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5372 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5373 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5377 @node Unread Articles
5378 @subsection Unread Articles
5380 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5385 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5386 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5388 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5389 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5390 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5391 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5392 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5393 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5394 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5397 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5398 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5400 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5401 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5402 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5403 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5407 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5408 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5410 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5415 @subsection Read Articles
5416 @cindex expirable mark
5418 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5423 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5424 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5425 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5428 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5429 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5432 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5433 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5434 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5437 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5438 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5441 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5442 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5445 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5446 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5449 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5450 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5453 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5454 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5457 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5458 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5461 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5462 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5466 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5467 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5468 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5472 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5473 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5475 One more special mark, though:
5479 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5480 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5482 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5483 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5484 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5485 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
5491 @subsection Other Marks
5492 @cindex process mark
5495 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5501 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5502 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5503 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5504 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5505 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5508 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5509 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5510 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5511 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5513 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5514 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5515 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5517 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5518 Articles that are ``recently'' arrived in the group will be marked
5519 with an @samp{N} in the second column (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Most
5520 back end doesn't support the mark, in which case it's not shown.
5523 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5524 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5525 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5528 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5529 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5530 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5531 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5534 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5535 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5536 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5537 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5538 mark, in which case it simply never appear.
5541 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5542 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5543 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5546 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5547 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5548 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5549 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5550 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5553 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5554 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5555 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5556 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5557 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5558 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5562 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5563 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5564 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5566 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5567 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5568 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5572 @subsection Setting Marks
5573 @cindex setting marks
5575 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5580 @kindex M c (Summary)
5581 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5582 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5583 @cindex mark as unread
5584 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5585 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5591 @kindex M t (Summary)
5592 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5593 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5594 @xref{Article Caching}.
5599 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5600 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5601 Mark the current article as dormant
5602 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5606 @kindex M d (Summary)
5608 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5609 Mark the current article as read
5610 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5614 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5615 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5616 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5621 @kindex M k (Summary)
5622 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5623 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5624 and then select the next unread article
5625 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5629 @kindex M K (Summary)
5630 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5631 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5632 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5633 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5636 @kindex M C (Summary)
5637 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5638 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5639 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5642 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5643 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5644 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5645 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5648 @kindex M H (Summary)
5649 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5650 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5651 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5654 @kindex M h (Summary)
5655 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5656 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5657 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5660 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5661 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5662 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5663 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5666 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5667 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5668 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5669 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5673 @kindex M e (Summary)
5675 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5676 Mark the current article as expirable
5677 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5680 @kindex M b (Summary)
5681 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5682 Set a bookmark in the current article
5683 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5686 @kindex M B (Summary)
5687 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5688 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5689 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5692 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5693 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5694 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5695 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5698 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5699 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5700 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5701 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5704 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5705 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5706 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5707 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5708 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5711 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5712 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5713 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5714 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5715 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5716 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5717 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5718 The default is @code{t}.
5721 @node Generic Marking Commands
5722 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5724 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5725 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5726 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5727 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5728 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5731 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5732 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5735 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5736 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5737 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5738 to list in this manual.
5740 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5741 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5742 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5743 article, you could say something like:
5746 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5747 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5748 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5754 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5755 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5759 @node Setting Process Marks
5760 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5761 @cindex setting process marks
5768 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5769 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5770 Mark the current article with the process mark
5771 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5772 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5776 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5777 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5778 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5779 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5782 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5783 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5784 Remove the process mark from all articles
5785 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5788 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5789 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5790 Invert the list of process marked articles
5791 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5794 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5795 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5796 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5797 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5800 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5801 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5802 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5803 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5806 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5807 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5808 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5811 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5812 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5813 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5814 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5817 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5819 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5820 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5823 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5824 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5825 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5826 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5829 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5830 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5831 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5834 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5835 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5836 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5837 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5840 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5841 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5842 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5845 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5846 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5847 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5848 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5851 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5852 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5853 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5854 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5857 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5858 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5859 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5860 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5863 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5864 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5865 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5866 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5870 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5871 set process marks based on article body contents.
5878 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5879 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5880 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5883 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5884 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5885 additional articles.
5891 @kindex / / (Summary)
5892 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5893 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5894 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
5898 @kindex / a (Summary)
5899 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5900 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5901 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
5905 @kindex / x (Summary)
5906 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5907 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5908 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5909 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
5914 @kindex / u (Summary)
5916 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5917 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5918 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5919 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5920 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5923 @kindex / m (Summary)
5924 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5925 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5926 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5929 @kindex / t (Summary)
5930 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5931 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5932 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5933 articles younger than that number of days.
5936 @kindex / n (Summary)
5937 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5938 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5939 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5940 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5943 @kindex / w (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5945 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5946 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5950 @kindex / v (Summary)
5951 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5952 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5953 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5956 @kindex / p (Summary)
5957 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter
5958 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
5959 group parameter predicate
5960 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-parameter}). See @pxref{Group
5961 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
5965 @kindex M S (Summary)
5966 @kindex / E (Summary)
5967 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5968 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5969 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5972 @kindex / D (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5974 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5975 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5978 @kindex / * (Summary)
5979 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5980 Include all cached articles in the limit
5981 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5984 @kindex / d (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5986 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5987 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5990 @kindex / M (Summary)
5991 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5992 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5995 @kindex / T (Summary)
5996 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5997 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6000 @kindex / c (Summary)
6001 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6002 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6003 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6006 @kindex / C (Summary)
6007 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6008 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6009 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6010 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6013 @kindex / N (Summary)
6014 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6015 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6016 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6019 @kindex / o (Summary)
6020 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6021 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6022 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6030 @cindex article threading
6032 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6033 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6034 hierarchical fashion.
6036 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6037 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6038 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6039 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6040 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6041 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6042 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6044 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6048 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6051 A tree-like article structure.
6054 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6057 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6058 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6059 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6060 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6061 called loose threads.
6063 @item thread gathering
6064 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6066 @item sparse threads
6067 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6068 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6074 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6075 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6079 @node Customizing Threading
6080 @subsection Customizing Threading
6081 @cindex customizing threading
6084 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6085 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6086 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6087 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6092 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6095 @cindex loose threads
6098 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6099 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6100 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6101 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6102 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6103 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6105 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
6106 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
6107 There are four possible values:
6111 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6112 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6113 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6114 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6115 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6120 @cindex adopting articles
6125 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6126 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6127 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6128 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6131 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6132 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6133 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6134 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6135 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6136 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6137 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6140 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6141 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6142 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6146 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6147 display them after one another.
6150 Don't gather loose threads.
6153 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6154 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6155 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6156 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
6157 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6158 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6159 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6160 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6161 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6162 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
6163 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6165 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6166 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
6167 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6170 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6171 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6172 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6173 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6174 simplification is used.
6176 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6177 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6178 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6179 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6181 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6183 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6189 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6190 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6191 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6192 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6197 (mapconcat 'identity
6198 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6200 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6203 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6206 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6207 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6208 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6209 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6210 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6211 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6213 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6216 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6217 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6218 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6220 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6221 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6224 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6225 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6226 Remove excessive whitespace.
6229 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6232 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6233 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6234 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6235 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6236 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6237 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6238 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6239 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6241 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6242 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6243 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6244 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6245 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6246 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6247 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6248 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6249 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6253 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6254 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6255 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6256 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6258 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6259 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6260 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6263 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6267 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6268 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6274 @node Filling In Threads
6275 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6278 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6279 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6280 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6281 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6282 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6283 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6284 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6285 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6286 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6287 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
6288 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
6289 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
6291 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6292 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6293 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6295 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6296 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6297 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6298 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6299 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6300 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6301 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
6302 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6303 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
6304 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
6305 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6306 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
6307 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6308 @code{nil} by default.
6310 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6311 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6312 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6313 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6314 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6315 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6316 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6318 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6319 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6320 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6325 @node More Threading
6326 @subsubsection More Threading
6329 @item gnus-show-threads
6330 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6331 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6332 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6333 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6334 slower and more awkward.
6336 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6337 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6338 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6341 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6342 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6343 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6344 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6345 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6346 threads are expunged.
6348 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6349 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6350 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6353 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6354 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6355 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6356 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6357 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6358 result in a new thread.
6360 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6361 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6362 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6365 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6366 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6367 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6368 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6369 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6370 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6371 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6372 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6373 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6374 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6375 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6380 @node Low-Level Threading
6381 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6385 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6386 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6387 Hook run before parsing any headers.
6389 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6390 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6391 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6392 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6393 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6394 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6395 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6396 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6397 meaningful. Here's one example:
6400 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6402 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6403 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6405 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6407 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6414 @node Thread Commands
6415 @subsection Thread Commands
6416 @cindex thread commands
6422 @kindex T k (Summary)
6423 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6424 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6425 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6426 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6427 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6432 @kindex T l (Summary)
6433 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6434 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6435 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6436 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6439 @kindex T i (Summary)
6440 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6441 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6442 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6445 @kindex T # (Summary)
6446 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6447 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6448 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6451 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6452 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6453 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6454 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6457 @kindex T T (Summary)
6458 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6459 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6462 @kindex T s (Summary)
6463 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6464 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6465 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6468 @kindex T h (Summary)
6469 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6470 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6473 @kindex T S (Summary)
6474 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6475 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6478 @kindex T H (Summary)
6479 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6480 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6483 @kindex T t (Summary)
6484 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6485 Re-thread the current article's thread
6486 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6487 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6490 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6491 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6492 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6493 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6497 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6498 understand the numeric prefix.
6503 @kindex T n (Summary)
6505 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6507 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6508 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6509 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6512 @kindex T p (Summary)
6514 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6516 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6517 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6518 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6521 @kindex T d (Summary)
6522 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6523 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6526 @kindex T u (Summary)
6527 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6528 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6531 @kindex T o (Summary)
6532 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6533 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6536 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6537 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6538 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6539 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6540 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6541 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6542 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6543 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6544 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6545 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6546 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6547 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6551 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6552 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6554 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6555 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6556 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6557 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6558 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6559 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6560 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6561 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6562 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6563 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6564 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6565 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6567 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6568 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6569 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6570 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6571 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6572 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date} and
6573 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6575 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6576 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6577 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6579 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6580 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6581 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6582 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6583 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6584 ascending article order.
6586 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6587 by number, you could do something like:
6590 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6591 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6592 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6593 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6596 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6597 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6598 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6599 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6600 which the articles arrived.
6602 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6606 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6608 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6609 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6612 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6613 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6614 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6615 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6618 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6619 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6620 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6621 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6622 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6623 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6624 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
6625 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
6626 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
6627 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
6628 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6629 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
6630 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6632 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6636 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6637 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6638 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6643 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6644 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6645 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6646 @cindex article pre-fetch
6649 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6650 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6651 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6652 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6653 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6655 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6656 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
6658 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6659 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6660 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6661 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6662 connection is blocked.
6664 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6665 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6666 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6667 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
6669 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6670 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6671 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6672 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6675 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6678 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6679 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6680 happen automatically.
6682 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6683 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6684 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6685 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6686 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6687 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6688 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6690 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6691 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6692 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6693 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6694 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6695 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6696 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6697 data structure as the only parameter.
6699 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6702 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6703 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6704 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6705 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6708 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6711 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6712 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
6713 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6715 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6716 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6717 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6718 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6722 Remove articles when they are read.
6725 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6728 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6730 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6731 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6732 @c from the next group.
6735 @node Article Caching
6736 @section Article Caching
6737 @cindex article caching
6740 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6741 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6742 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6743 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6744 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6746 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6748 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6749 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6750 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6751 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6752 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6753 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6754 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6755 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6757 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6758 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6759 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6760 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6761 as dormant, and don't worry.
6763 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6765 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6766 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6767 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6768 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6769 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6770 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6771 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6772 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6773 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6774 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6776 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6777 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6778 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6779 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6780 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6781 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6782 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6783 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6784 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6785 not then be downloaded by this command.
6787 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6788 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6789 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6790 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6791 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6792 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6794 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6795 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6796 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6797 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6798 variables, the group is not cached.
6800 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6801 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6802 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6803 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6804 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6805 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
6806 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6807 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6808 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6812 @node Persistent Articles
6813 @section Persistent Articles
6814 @cindex persistent articles
6816 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6817 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6818 useful in my opinion.
6820 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6821 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6822 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6823 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6824 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6825 the expiry going on at the news server.
6827 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6828 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6829 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6835 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6836 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6839 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6840 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6841 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6842 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6846 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6848 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6849 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6850 interested in persistent articles:
6853 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6857 @node Article Backlog
6858 @section Article Backlog
6860 @cindex article backlog
6862 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6863 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6864 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
6865 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6866 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6867 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6868 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
6869 increase memory usage some.
6871 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6872 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
6873 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6874 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
6875 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6876 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6877 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6879 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6882 @node Saving Articles
6883 @section Saving Articles
6884 @cindex saving articles
6886 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6887 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6888 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6889 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6890 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6892 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6893 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
6894 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6896 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6897 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6898 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6899 deleted before saving.
6905 @kindex O o (Summary)
6907 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6908 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6909 Save the current article using the default article saver
6910 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6913 @kindex O m (Summary)
6914 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6915 Save the current article in mail format
6916 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6919 @kindex O r (Summary)
6920 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6921 Save the current article in rmail format
6922 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6925 @kindex O f (Summary)
6926 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6927 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6928 Save the current article in plain file format
6929 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6932 @kindex O F (Summary)
6933 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6934 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6935 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6938 @kindex O b (Summary)
6939 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6940 Save the current article body in plain file format
6941 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6944 @kindex O h (Summary)
6945 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6946 Save the current article in mh folder format
6947 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6950 @kindex O v (Summary)
6951 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6952 Save the current article in a VM folder
6953 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6957 @kindex O p (Summary)
6959 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6960 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6961 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6964 @kindex O P (Summary)
6965 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
6966 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
6967 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
6968 external program Muttprint (see
6969 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
6970 options to use is controlled by the variable
6971 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
6975 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6976 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6977 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6978 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6979 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6980 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6981 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6982 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6983 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6984 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6985 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6986 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6990 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6991 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6992 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6993 functions below, or you can create your own.
6997 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6998 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6999 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7000 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7001 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7002 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7003 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7005 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7006 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7007 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7008 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7009 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7010 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7012 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7013 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7014 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7015 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7016 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7017 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7018 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7020 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7021 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7022 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7023 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7024 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7025 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7027 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7028 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7029 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7030 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7031 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7033 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7034 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7035 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7036 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7037 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7040 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7041 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7042 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7043 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7044 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7046 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7047 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7048 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7049 reader to use this setting.
7052 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7053 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7054 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7055 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7058 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7059 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7060 available functions that generate names:
7064 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7065 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7066 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7068 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7069 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7070 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7072 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7073 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7074 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7076 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7077 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7078 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7080 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7081 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7082 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7085 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7086 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7087 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7088 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7089 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7093 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7094 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7095 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7096 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7099 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7100 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7101 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7102 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7103 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7104 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7105 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7106 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7107 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7109 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7110 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7111 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7112 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7114 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7115 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7116 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7119 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7120 lots of mail groups called things like
7121 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7122 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7123 following will do just that:
7126 (defun my-save-name (group)
7127 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7128 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7130 (setq gnus-split-methods
7131 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7136 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7137 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7138 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7139 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7140 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7141 all the files in the top level directory
7142 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7143 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7144 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7145 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7147 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7148 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7149 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7150 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7151 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7154 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7158 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7159 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7160 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7163 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7164 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7165 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7166 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7169 @node Decoding Articles
7170 @section Decoding Articles
7171 @cindex decoding articles
7173 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7174 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7177 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7178 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7179 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7180 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7181 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7182 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7186 @cindex article series
7187 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7188 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7189 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7190 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7191 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7193 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7194 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7195 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7197 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
7198 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7199 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7201 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7202 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7203 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7206 @node Uuencoded Articles
7207 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7209 @cindex uuencoded articles
7214 @kindex X u (Summary)
7215 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7216 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7217 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7220 @kindex X U (Summary)
7221 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7222 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7223 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7226 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7227 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7228 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7231 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7232 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7233 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7234 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7238 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7239 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7240 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7241 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7242 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7244 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7245 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7246 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7247 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7250 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7251 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7252 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7253 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7254 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7255 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7259 @node Shell Archives
7260 @subsection Shell Archives
7262 @cindex shell archives
7263 @cindex shared articles
7265 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7266 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7267 some commands to deal with these:
7272 @kindex X s (Summary)
7273 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7274 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7277 @kindex X S (Summary)
7278 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7279 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7282 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7283 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7284 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7287 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7288 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7289 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7290 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7294 @node PostScript Files
7295 @subsection PostScript Files
7301 @kindex X p (Summary)
7302 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7303 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7306 @kindex X P (Summary)
7307 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7308 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7309 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7312 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7313 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7314 View the current PostScript series
7315 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7318 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7319 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7320 View and save the current PostScript series
7321 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7326 @subsection Other Files
7330 @kindex X o (Summary)
7331 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7332 Save the current series
7333 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7336 @kindex X b (Summary)
7337 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7338 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7339 doesn't really work yet.
7343 @node Decoding Variables
7344 @subsection Decoding Variables
7346 Adjective, not verb.
7349 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7350 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7351 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7355 @node Rule Variables
7356 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7357 @cindex rule variables
7359 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7360 variables are of the form
7363 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7370 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7371 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7373 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7374 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7377 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7378 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7381 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7382 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7383 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7384 user and default view rules.
7386 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7387 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7388 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7393 @node Other Decode Variables
7394 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7397 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7399 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7400 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7401 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7402 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7403 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7407 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7408 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7411 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7412 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7413 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7416 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7417 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7418 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7419 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7420 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7423 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7424 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7425 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7427 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7428 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7429 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7430 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7431 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7434 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7435 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7436 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7438 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7439 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7440 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7441 looking for files to display.
7443 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7444 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7445 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7448 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7449 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7450 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7453 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7454 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7455 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7458 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7459 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7460 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7463 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7464 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7465 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7466 decoded articles as unread.
7468 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7469 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7470 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7471 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7473 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7474 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7475 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7477 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7478 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7480 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7481 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7482 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7483 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7485 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7486 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7487 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7488 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7489 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7490 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7491 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7492 simply dropped them.
7497 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7498 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7502 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7503 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7504 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7505 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7506 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7507 for you when you post the article.
7509 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7510 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7511 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7512 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7514 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7515 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7516 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7517 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7518 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7519 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7520 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7522 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7523 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7524 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7525 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7526 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7527 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7528 Default is @code{t}.
7534 @subsection Viewing Files
7535 @cindex viewing files
7536 @cindex pseudo-articles
7538 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
7539 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7540 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7541 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
7542 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7543 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7544 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7546 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7547 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7548 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7549 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7551 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7552 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7553 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7555 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7556 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7557 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7558 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7559 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7561 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7562 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7563 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7564 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7565 a list of parameters to that command.
7567 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7568 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7569 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7571 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7572 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7573 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7576 @node Article Treatment
7577 @section Article Treatment
7579 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7580 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7581 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7582 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7583 these articles easier.
7586 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7587 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7588 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7589 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7590 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7591 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7592 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7593 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7594 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7595 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7599 @node Article Highlighting
7600 @subsection Article Highlighting
7601 @cindex highlighting
7603 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7604 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7609 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7610 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7611 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7612 Do much highlighting of the current article
7613 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7614 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7617 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7618 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7619 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7620 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7621 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7622 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7623 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7624 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7625 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7626 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7627 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7628 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7631 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7632 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7633 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7635 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7638 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7640 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7641 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7642 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7644 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7645 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7646 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7648 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7649 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7650 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7651 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7652 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7653 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7655 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7656 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7657 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7659 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7660 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7661 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7663 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7664 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7665 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7666 that it's a citation.
7668 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7669 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7670 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7672 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7673 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7674 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7676 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7677 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7678 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7679 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7685 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7686 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7687 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7688 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7689 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7690 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7691 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7692 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7697 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7700 @node Article Fontisizing
7701 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7703 @cindex article emphasis
7705 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7706 @kindex W e (Summary)
7707 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7708 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7709 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7710 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7712 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7713 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7714 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7715 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7716 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7717 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7718 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7719 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7723 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7724 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7725 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7734 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7735 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7736 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7737 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7738 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7739 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7740 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7741 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7742 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7743 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7744 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7745 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7746 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7748 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7749 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7750 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7754 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7757 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7759 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7760 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7761 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7762 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7764 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7767 @node Article Hiding
7768 @subsection Article Hiding
7769 @cindex article hiding
7771 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7772 too much cruft in most articles.
7777 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7778 @findex gnus-article-hide
7779 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7780 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7781 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7784 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7785 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7786 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7790 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7791 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7792 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7793 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7796 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7797 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7798 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7802 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7803 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7804 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7805 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7806 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7807 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7808 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7809 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7813 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7814 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7815 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7816 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7821 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7822 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7823 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7824 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7825 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7826 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7827 articles that have signatures in them do:
7829 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7831 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7833 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7834 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7836 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7839 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7844 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7845 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7846 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7847 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7850 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7851 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7854 @cindex stripping advertisements
7855 @cindex advertisements
7856 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7857 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7858 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7859 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7860 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7861 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7862 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7863 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7864 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
7865 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
7869 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7870 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7871 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7872 customizing the hiding:
7876 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7877 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7878 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7879 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7880 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7881 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7882 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7887 Starting point of the hidden text.
7889 Ending point of the hidden text.
7891 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7893 Number of lines of hidden text.
7896 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7897 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7898 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7899 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7900 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7905 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7906 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7908 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7909 following two variables:
7912 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7913 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7914 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7915 50), hide the cited text.
7917 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7918 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7919 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7924 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7925 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7926 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7927 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7928 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7929 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7933 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7934 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7935 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7937 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7938 citation customization.
7940 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7944 @node Article Washing
7945 @subsection Article Washing
7947 @cindex article washing
7949 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7950 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7952 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7953 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7956 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
7957 articles by default.
7962 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
7963 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
7967 @kindex W l (Summary)
7968 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7969 Remove page breaks from the current article
7970 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7974 @kindex W r (Summary)
7975 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7976 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7977 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7978 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7979 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7980 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7982 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7983 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7984 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7985 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7989 @kindex W t (Summary)
7991 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7992 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7993 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7996 @kindex W v (Summary)
7997 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7998 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7999 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
8002 @kindex W o (Summary)
8003 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8004 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8007 @kindex W d (Summary)
8008 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8009 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8011 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8013 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8014 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8015 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8016 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8019 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8020 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8021 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8022 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8025 @kindex W w (Summary)
8026 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8027 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8029 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8033 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8034 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8035 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8038 @kindex W C (Summary)
8039 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8040 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8041 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8044 @kindex W c (Summary)
8045 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8046 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8047 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8048 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8049 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8052 @kindex W q (Summary)
8053 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8054 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8055 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
8056 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
8057 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
8058 readable to me. Note that the this is usually done automatically by
8059 Gnus if the message in question has a @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding}
8060 header that says that this encoding has been done.
8061 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8064 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8065 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8066 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8067 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8068 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that the this is usually done
8069 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8070 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8072 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8075 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8076 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8077 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8078 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8079 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8082 @kindex W h (Summary)
8083 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8084 Treat HTML (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}).
8085 Note that the this is usually done automatically by Gnus if the message
8086 in question has a @code{Content-Type} header that says that this type
8088 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8091 @kindex W b (Summary)
8092 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8093 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8094 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8097 @kindex W B (Summary)
8098 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8099 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8100 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8103 @kindex W p (Summary)
8104 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8105 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8106 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8107 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8108 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8109 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8110 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8113 @kindex W s (Summary)
8114 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8115 Verify a signed (PGP, PGP/MIME or S/MIME) message
8116 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8119 @kindex W W H (Summary)
8120 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
8121 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8122 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
8125 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8126 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8127 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8128 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8131 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8132 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8133 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8134 lines with a single empty line.
8135 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8138 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8139 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8140 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8141 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8144 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8145 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8146 Do all the three commands above
8147 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8150 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8151 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8152 Remove all blank lines
8153 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8156 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8157 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8158 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8159 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8162 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8163 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8164 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8165 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8169 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8172 @node Article Header
8173 @subsection Article Header
8175 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8180 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8181 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8182 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8185 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8186 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8187 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8188 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8191 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8192 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-header
8193 Fold all the message headers
8194 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8199 @node Article Buttons
8200 @subsection Article Buttons
8203 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8204 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8205 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8206 button on these references.
8208 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8209 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8210 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8215 @item gnus-button-alist
8216 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8217 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8220 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8226 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8227 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8228 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
8231 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8232 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8233 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8236 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8237 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8238 avoid false matches.
8241 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8244 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8245 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8249 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8252 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8255 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8256 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8257 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8258 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8259 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8262 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8265 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8267 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8268 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8269 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8270 default values of the variables above.
8272 @item gnus-article-button-face
8273 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8274 Face used on buttons.
8276 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8277 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8278 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8282 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8286 @subsection Article Date
8288 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8289 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8290 when the article was sent.
8295 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8296 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8297 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8298 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8301 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8302 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8304 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8305 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8308 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8309 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8310 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8313 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8314 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8315 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8316 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8319 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8320 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8321 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8322 @findex format-time-string
8323 Display the date using a user-defined format
8324 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8325 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8326 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8327 for a list of possible format specs.
8330 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8331 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8332 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8333 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8334 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8335 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8338 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8341 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8342 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8345 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8346 into wonderful absurdities.
8348 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8351 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8354 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8355 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8359 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8360 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8361 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8362 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8363 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8364 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8365 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8369 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8370 preferred format automatically.
8373 @node Article Display
8374 @subsection Article Display
8379 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8380 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8382 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8383 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8385 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8386 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8388 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8389 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8391 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8396 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8397 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8398 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8399 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8402 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8403 @findex gnus-smiley-smiley
8404 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8407 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8408 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8409 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8412 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8413 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8414 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8415 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8418 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8419 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8420 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8421 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8424 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8425 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8426 Remove all images from the article buffer
8427 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8433 @node Article Signature
8434 @subsection Article Signature
8436 @cindex article signature
8438 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8439 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8440 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8441 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8442 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8443 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8444 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8445 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8446 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8449 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8450 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8451 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8452 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8453 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8454 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8455 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8456 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8459 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8462 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8463 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8464 signature when displaying articles.
8468 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8471 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8474 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8475 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8477 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8478 in question is not a signature.
8481 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8482 listed above. Here's an example:
8485 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8486 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8489 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8490 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8491 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8492 signature after all.
8495 @node Article Miscellania
8496 @subsection Article Miscellania
8500 @kindex A t (Summary)
8501 @findex gnus-article-babel
8502 Translate the article from one language to another
8503 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8509 @section @sc{mime} Commands
8510 @cindex MIME decoding
8512 @cindex viewing attachments
8514 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8515 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8521 @kindex K v (Summary)
8522 View the @sc{mime} part.
8525 @kindex K o (Summary)
8526 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8529 @kindex K c (Summary)
8530 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8533 @kindex K e (Summary)
8534 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8537 @kindex K i (Summary)
8538 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8541 @kindex K | (Summary)
8542 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8545 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8550 @kindex K b (Summary)
8551 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8552 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8556 @kindex K m (Summary)
8557 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8558 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8559 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8560 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8561 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8564 @kindex X m (Summary)
8565 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8566 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8567 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8568 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8571 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8572 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
8573 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8574 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8577 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8578 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8579 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8582 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8583 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8584 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8586 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8587 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8588 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8589 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
8590 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
8591 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8594 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8595 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8596 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8603 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8604 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8605 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8606 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8609 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8612 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8616 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8617 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8618 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8619 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8620 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8621 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8624 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8625 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8626 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8627 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8628 displayed. This variable overrides
8629 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8631 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8632 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8633 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8635 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8636 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8637 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8638 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8639 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8640 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8641 save all jpegs into some directory).
8643 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8646 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8647 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8649 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8650 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8651 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8652 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8653 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8656 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8657 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8658 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8660 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8661 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8662 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8663 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8665 Ready-made functions include@*
8666 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8667 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8668 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8669 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8670 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8671 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8672 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8673 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8674 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8675 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8676 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8677 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8679 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8680 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8682 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8683 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8684 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8687 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8688 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8689 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8690 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8694 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8703 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8704 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8705 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8706 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8707 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8708 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8709 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8711 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8712 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8713 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8714 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8716 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8717 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8718 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8719 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8720 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8721 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8722 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8723 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8725 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8726 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8727 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8728 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8729 quoted-printable header encoding.
8731 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8732 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8733 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8737 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8740 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8741 means encode all charsets),
8743 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8744 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8745 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8752 @cindex coding system aliases
8753 @cindex preferred charset
8755 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8757 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8758 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8761 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8762 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8765 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8766 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8768 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8771 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8774 This will almost do the right thing.
8776 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8780 (codepage-setup 1251)
8781 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
8785 @node Article Commands
8786 @section Article Commands
8793 @kindex A P (Summary)
8794 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
8795 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
8796 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
8797 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
8798 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
8799 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
8804 @node Summary Sorting
8805 @section Summary Sorting
8806 @cindex summary sorting
8808 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
8809 can't really see why you'd want that.
8814 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
8815 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
8816 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
8819 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
8820 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
8821 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
8824 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
8825 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
8826 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
8829 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
8830 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
8831 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
8834 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
8835 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
8836 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
8839 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
8840 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
8841 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
8844 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
8845 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
8846 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
8849 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
8850 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
8851 Sort using the default sorting method
8852 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
8855 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
8856 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
8857 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
8858 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
8859 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
8863 @node Finding the Parent
8864 @section Finding the Parent
8865 @cindex parent articles
8866 @cindex referring articles
8871 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
8872 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
8873 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
8874 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
8875 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
8876 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
8877 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
8878 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
8879 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
8881 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
8882 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
8883 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
8884 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
8885 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
8889 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
8890 @kindex A R (Summary)
8891 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
8892 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
8895 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
8896 @kindex A T (Summary)
8897 Display the full thread where the current article appears
8898 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
8899 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
8900 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
8901 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
8902 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
8903 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
8905 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8906 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8907 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8908 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8909 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8910 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8913 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8914 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8916 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8917 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8918 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8919 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8920 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8921 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8922 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8925 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8926 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8927 by giving this command a prefix.
8929 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8930 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
8931 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8932 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8933 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8934 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8937 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8938 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8939 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8942 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8943 then ask Deja if that fails:
8946 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8948 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8951 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
8952 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox}
8953 and @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8954 @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder} and @code{nnimap}1 are only able to locate
8955 articles that have been posted to the current group. (Anything else
8956 would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at
8960 @node Alternative Approaches
8961 @section Alternative Approaches
8963 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8964 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8967 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8968 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8973 @subsection Pick and Read
8974 @cindex pick and read
8976 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8977 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8978 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8979 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8981 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8982 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8983 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8984 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8985 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8986 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8988 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8993 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8994 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8995 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8996 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8997 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8998 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8999 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9000 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9003 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9004 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9005 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9006 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9010 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9011 Unpick the thread or article
9012 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9013 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9014 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9015 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9016 the thread or article at that line.
9020 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9021 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9022 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9023 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9024 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9025 will still be visible when you are reading.
9029 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9030 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9031 which is mapped to the same function
9032 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9034 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9037 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9040 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9041 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9043 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9044 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9045 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9047 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9048 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9049 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9050 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9051 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9052 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9053 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9057 @subsection Binary Groups
9058 @cindex binary groups
9060 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9061 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9062 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9063 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9064 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9065 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9066 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9069 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9070 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9071 command, when you have turned on this mode
9072 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9074 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9075 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9079 @section Tree Display
9082 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9083 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
9084 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9085 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9088 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9091 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9092 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9093 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9095 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9096 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9097 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9098 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9099 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9101 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9102 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9103 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9104 default is @code{modeline}.
9106 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9107 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9108 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9109 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9110 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9111 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9112 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9118 The name of the poster.
9120 The @code{From} header.
9122 The number of the article.
9124 The opening bracket.
9126 The closing bracket.
9131 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9133 Variables related to the display are:
9136 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9137 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9138 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9139 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9140 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9141 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9143 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9144 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9145 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9146 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9150 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9151 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9152 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
9153 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
9154 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9155 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9156 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9157 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9158 other windows displayed next to it.
9160 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9164 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9165 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9168 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9169 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9170 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9171 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9172 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9173 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9174 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9178 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9181 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9191 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9195 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9196 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9198 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9200 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9205 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9206 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9207 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9210 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9211 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9212 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9213 (gnus-add-configuration
9217 (summary 0.75 point)
9222 @xref{Window Layout}.
9225 @node Mail Group Commands
9226 @section Mail Group Commands
9227 @cindex mail group commands
9229 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9230 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9232 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9233 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9238 @kindex B e (Summary)
9239 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9240 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9241 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9242 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9243 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9246 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9247 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9248 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9249 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9250 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9251 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9254 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9255 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9256 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9257 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9258 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9259 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9262 @kindex B m (Summary)
9264 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9265 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9266 Move the article from one mail group to another
9267 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9268 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9271 @kindex B c (Summary)
9273 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9274 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9275 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9276 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9277 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9280 @kindex B B (Summary)
9281 @cindex crosspost mail
9282 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9283 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9284 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9285 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9286 be properly updated.
9289 @kindex B i (Summary)
9290 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9291 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9292 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9293 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9296 @kindex B r (Summary)
9297 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9298 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9299 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9300 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9301 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9302 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9303 (which is the default).
9307 @kindex B w (Summary)
9309 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9310 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9311 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9312 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9313 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9314 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9317 @kindex B q (Summary)
9318 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9319 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9320 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9321 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9324 @kindex B t (Summary)
9325 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9326 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9327 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9330 @kindex B p (Summary)
9331 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9332 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9333 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9334 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9335 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9336 article from your news server (or rather, from
9337 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9338 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9339 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9340 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9341 just not have arrived yet.
9345 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9346 @cindex moving articles
9347 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
9348 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9349 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9350 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9351 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9352 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9353 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9356 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9357 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9358 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9359 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9363 @node Various Summary Stuff
9364 @section Various Summary Stuff
9367 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9368 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9369 * Summary Generation Commands::
9370 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9374 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9375 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9376 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9378 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9379 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9380 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9381 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9382 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9383 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9386 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9387 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9388 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9389 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9390 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9392 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9393 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9394 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9397 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9398 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9399 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9400 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9401 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9402 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9403 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
9404 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9405 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9406 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9408 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9409 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9410 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9411 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9412 list of articles to be selected.
9414 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9415 the list in one particular group:
9418 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9419 (if (string= group "some.group")
9420 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9424 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9425 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9426 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9427 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9428 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9429 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9430 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9431 buffers. For example:
9434 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9435 '(message-use-followup-to
9436 (gnus-visible-headers .
9437 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9443 @node Summary Group Information
9444 @subsection Summary Group Information
9449 @kindex H f (Summary)
9450 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9451 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9452 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9453 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9454 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9455 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9456 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9457 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9458 be used for fetching the file.
9461 @kindex H d (Summary)
9462 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9463 Give a brief description of the current group
9464 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9465 rereading the description from the server.
9468 @kindex H h (Summary)
9469 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9470 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9471 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9474 @kindex H i (Summary)
9475 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9476 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9480 @node Searching for Articles
9481 @subsection Searching for Articles
9486 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9487 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9488 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9489 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9492 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9493 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9494 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9495 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9499 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9500 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9501 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9502 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9503 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9504 search backward instead.
9506 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9507 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9510 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9511 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9512 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9513 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9516 @node Summary Generation Commands
9517 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9522 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9523 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9524 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9527 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9528 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9529 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9530 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9535 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9536 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9542 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9543 @kindex A D (Summary)
9544 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9545 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9546 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9547 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9548 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9549 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9550 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9551 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9555 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9556 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9557 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9558 several documents into one biiig group
9559 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9560 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9561 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9562 command understands the process/prefix convention
9563 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9566 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9567 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9568 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9569 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9570 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9571 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9575 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9576 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9577 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9580 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9581 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9582 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9583 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9586 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9587 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9588 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9589 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9594 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9595 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9596 @cindex summary exit
9597 @cindex exiting groups
9599 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9600 group and return you to the group buffer.
9606 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9608 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9609 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9610 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9611 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9612 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9613 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9614 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9615 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9616 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9617 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9618 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9622 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9624 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9625 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9626 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9630 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9632 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9633 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9634 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9635 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9638 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9639 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9640 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9641 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9644 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9645 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9646 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9647 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9650 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9651 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9652 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9653 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9654 all articles, both read and unread.
9658 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9659 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9660 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9661 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9662 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9663 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9664 articles, both read and unread.
9667 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9668 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9669 Exit the group and go to the next group
9670 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9673 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9674 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9675 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9676 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9679 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9680 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9681 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9682 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9683 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9684 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9687 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9688 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9689 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9690 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9692 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9693 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9694 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9695 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9696 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9697 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9698 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9699 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9700 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9701 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9702 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9703 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9705 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9707 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9708 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9709 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9710 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9711 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9712 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9713 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9714 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9715 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9718 @node Crosspost Handling
9719 @section Crosspost Handling
9723 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9724 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9725 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9726 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9727 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9728 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9731 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9732 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9733 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9734 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9735 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9737 @cindex cross-posting
9740 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9741 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9742 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9743 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9744 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9745 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9746 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9747 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9748 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9749 the cross reference mechanism.
9751 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9752 @cindex overview.fmt
9753 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9754 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9755 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9756 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9757 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9758 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9761 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9762 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9763 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
9768 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
9771 @node Duplicate Suppression
9772 @section Duplicate Suppression
9774 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
9775 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
9776 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
9777 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
9782 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
9783 is evil and not very common.
9786 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
9787 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
9790 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
9791 different @sc{nntp} servers.
9794 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
9797 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
9798 well, but these four are the most common situations.
9800 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
9801 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
9802 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
9803 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
9804 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
9805 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
9806 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
9809 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
9810 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
9811 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
9812 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
9813 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
9817 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
9818 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
9819 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
9821 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
9822 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
9823 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
9824 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
9825 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
9826 session are suppressed.
9828 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
9829 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
9830 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
9831 suppression list. The default is 10000.
9833 @item gnus-duplicate-file
9834 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
9835 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
9836 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
9839 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
9840 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
9841 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
9842 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
9843 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
9844 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
9845 to you to figure out, I think.
9850 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
9851 The formats that are supported are PGP, PGP/MIME and S/MIME, however
9852 you need some external programs to get things to work:
9856 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
9857 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
9860 To handle S/MIME message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
9861 or newer is recommended.
9865 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
9866 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
9869 @item mm-verify-option
9870 @vindex mm-verify-option
9871 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
9872 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
9873 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9875 @item mm-decrypt-option
9876 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
9877 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
9878 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
9879 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
9884 @section Mailing List
9886 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
9887 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
9888 possibly using @kbd{A M} in the summary buffer, or say:
9891 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
9894 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
9899 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
9900 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
9901 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
9904 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
9905 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
9906 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
9909 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
9910 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
9911 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
9915 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
9916 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
9917 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
9920 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
9921 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9922 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
9925 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
9926 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
9927 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
9931 @node Article Buffer
9932 @chapter Article Buffer
9933 @cindex article buffer
9935 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
9936 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
9937 tell Gnus otherwise.
9940 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
9941 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
9942 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
9943 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
9944 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
9948 @node Hiding Headers
9949 @section Hiding Headers
9950 @cindex hiding headers
9951 @cindex deleting headers
9953 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
9954 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
9956 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
9957 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
9958 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
9959 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
9960 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
9961 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
9962 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
9963 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
9964 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
9966 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
9970 @item gnus-visible-headers
9971 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
9972 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
9973 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
9974 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
9976 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
9977 the article and the subject, you'd say:
9980 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
9983 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
9986 @item gnus-ignored-headers
9987 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
9988 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
9989 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
9990 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
9991 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
9993 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
9994 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
9997 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10000 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10003 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10004 variable will have no effect.
10008 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10009 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10010 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10011 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10012 the headers are to be displayed.
10014 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10015 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10018 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10021 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10022 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10024 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10025 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10026 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10027 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10028 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10029 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10030 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10033 These conditions are:
10036 Remove all empty headers.
10038 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10039 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10041 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10042 @code{From} header.
10044 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10047 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10048 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10050 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10053 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10055 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10058 To include these three elements, you could say something like;
10061 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10062 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10065 This is also the default value for this variable.
10069 @section Using MIME
10072 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10073 while people stand around yawning.
10075 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10076 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10078 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10079 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10080 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10082 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
10083 @findex gnus-display-mime
10084 Gnus pushes @sc{mime} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
10085 to display the @sc{mime} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
10086 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
10087 display, save and manipulate the @sc{mime} objects.
10089 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
10093 @findex gnus-article-press-button
10094 @item RET (Article)
10095 @kindex RET (Article)
10096 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
10097 Toggle displaying of the @sc{mime} object
10098 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}).
10100 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
10101 @item M-RET (Article)
10102 @kindex M-RET (Article)
10104 Prompt for a method, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10105 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
10107 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
10109 @kindex t (Article)
10110 View the @sc{mime} object as if it were a different @sc{mime} media type
10111 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
10113 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
10115 @kindex C (Article)
10116 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @sc{mime} object using this
10117 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
10119 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
10121 @kindex o (Article)
10122 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @sc{mime} object
10123 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
10125 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
10126 @item C-o (Article)
10127 @kindex C-o (Article)
10128 Prompt for a file name, then save the @sc{mime} object and strip it from
10129 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
10130 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
10131 like. The stripped @sc{mime} object will be referred via the
10132 message/external-body @sc{mime} type.
10133 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
10135 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
10137 @kindex c (Article)
10138 Copy the @sc{mime} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
10139 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}).
10141 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
10143 @kindex p (Article)
10144 Print the @sc{mime} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
10145 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
10146 @file{.mailcap} file.
10148 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
10150 @kindex i (Article)
10151 Insert the contents of the @sc{mime} object into the buffer
10152 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as text/plain. If given a prefix, insert
10153 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
10154 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
10155 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @pxref{Paging the
10158 @findex gnus-mime-internalize-part
10160 @kindex E (Article)
10161 View the @sc{mime} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
10162 viewer is available, use an external viewer
10163 (@code{gnus-mime-internalize-part}).
10165 @findex gnus-mime-externalize-part
10167 @kindex e (Article)
10168 View the @sc{mime} object with an external viewer.
10169 (@code{gnus-mime-externalize-part}).
10171 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
10173 @kindex | (Article)
10174 Output the @sc{mime} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
10176 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
10178 @kindex . (Article)
10179 Interactively run an action on the @sc{mime} object
10180 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
10184 Gnus will display some @sc{mime} objects automatically. The way Gnus
10185 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs MIME
10188 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
10189 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
10190 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
10191 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
10192 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
10193 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
10194 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
10195 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
10196 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
10198 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10200 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10203 @node Customizing Articles
10204 @section Customizing Articles
10205 @cindex article customization
10207 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10208 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10209 called automatically when you select the articles.
10211 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10212 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10213 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10214 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10216 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10217 for sensible values.
10221 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10224 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10227 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10230 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10233 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10237 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10238 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10239 regexps in the list.
10242 A list where the first element is not a string:
10244 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10245 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10246 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10250 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10255 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10256 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10257 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10258 considered to contain just a single part.
10260 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10261 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10262 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10263 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10264 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10265 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10266 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10268 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10269 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10270 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10271 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10274 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10275 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10277 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10279 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10280 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10281 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10282 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10283 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10284 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10285 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10286 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10287 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10289 @xref{Article Washing}.
10291 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10292 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10293 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10294 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10295 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10296 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10297 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10299 @xref{Article Date}.
10301 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10302 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10303 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10307 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10309 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10311 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10312 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10313 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10317 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10321 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10322 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10323 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10324 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10325 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10326 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10327 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10328 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10330 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10332 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10333 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10334 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10336 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10338 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10339 @item gnus-treat-translate
10340 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10342 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10343 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10344 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10350 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10351 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10352 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10353 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10354 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10358 @node Article Keymap
10359 @section Article Keymap
10361 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10362 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10363 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10364 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10367 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10372 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10373 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10374 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10377 @kindex DEL (Article)
10378 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10379 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10382 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10383 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10384 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10385 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10386 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10389 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10390 @findex gnus-article-mail
10391 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10392 given a prefix, include the mail.
10395 @kindex s (Article)
10396 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10397 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10398 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10401 @kindex ? (Article)
10402 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10403 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10404 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10407 @kindex TAB (Article)
10408 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10409 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10410 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10413 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10414 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10415 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10418 @kindex R (Article)
10419 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10420 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10421 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10422 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10426 @kindex F (Article)
10427 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10428 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10429 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10430 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10438 @section Misc Article
10442 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10443 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10444 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10445 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10448 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10449 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10451 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10452 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10454 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10455 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10456 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10457 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10458 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10459 the contents of the article buffer.
10461 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10462 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10463 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10465 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10466 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10467 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10468 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10470 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10471 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10472 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10473 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10474 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10480 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10481 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10482 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10487 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10490 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10493 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10494 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10495 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10498 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10501 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10504 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10509 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10513 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10515 @item gnus-break-pages
10516 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10517 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10518 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10519 paging will not be done.
10521 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10522 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10523 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10528 @node Composing Messages
10529 @chapter Composing Messages
10530 @cindex composing messages
10533 @cindex sending mail
10538 @cindex using s/mime
10539 @cindex using smime
10541 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10542 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10543 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10544 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10545 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10546 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10549 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10550 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
10551 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10552 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10553 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10554 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10555 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10556 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10559 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10560 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10566 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10569 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10570 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10571 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10572 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10574 @item gnus-add-to-list
10575 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10576 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10577 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10582 @node Posting Server
10583 @section Posting Server
10585 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10586 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10588 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10590 @vindex gnus-post-method
10592 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will post using the same
10593 select method as you're reading from (which might be convenient if
10594 you're reading lots of groups from different private servers).
10595 However. If the server you're reading from doesn't allow posting,
10596 just reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
10597 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
10598 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10601 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10604 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10605 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10606 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10607 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10609 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10610 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10612 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10613 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10616 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10617 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10620 @node Mail and Post
10621 @section Mail and Post
10623 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10627 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10628 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10629 @cindex mailing lists
10631 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10632 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10633 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10634 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10635 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10636 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10637 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10638 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10639 still a pain, though.
10643 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10644 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10645 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10648 @findex ispell-message
10650 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10653 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10654 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10657 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10661 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10662 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10664 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10667 Modify to suit your needs.
10670 @node Archived Messages
10671 @section Archived Messages
10672 @cindex archived messages
10673 @cindex sent messages
10675 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10676 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10677 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10678 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10681 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10682 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
10683 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10686 (nnfolder "archive"
10687 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10688 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10689 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10690 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10693 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10694 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10695 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10696 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10699 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10700 '(nnfolder "archive"
10701 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10702 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10703 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10706 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10708 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10709 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10710 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10712 This variable can be used to do the following:
10717 Messages will be saved in that group.
10719 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10720 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10721 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10722 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10723 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10724 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10725 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10726 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10730 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10732 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10733 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10736 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10741 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10743 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10746 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10748 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10751 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10753 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10754 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10755 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10756 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10759 More complex stuff:
10761 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10762 '((if (message-news-p)
10767 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10768 messages in one file per month:
10771 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10772 '((if (message-news-p)
10774 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10777 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10778 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10780 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10781 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10782 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10783 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10784 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10785 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10786 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10787 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10788 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10789 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10791 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10792 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10793 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10794 this will disable archiving.
10797 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10798 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10799 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10800 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10801 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
10804 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
10805 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
10806 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
10809 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
10810 but the latter is the preferred method.
10812 @item gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10813 @vindex gnus-inews-mark-gcc-as-read
10814 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
10819 @node Posting Styles
10820 @section Posting Styles
10821 @cindex posting styles
10824 All them variables, they make my head swim.
10826 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
10827 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
10828 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
10831 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
10832 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
10833 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
10834 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
10835 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
10840 (signature "Peace and happiness")
10841 (organization "What me?"))
10843 (signature "Death to everybody"))
10844 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
10845 (organization "Emacs is it")))
10848 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
10849 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
10850 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
10851 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
10852 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
10853 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
10854 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
10855 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
10857 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
10858 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
10859 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header (the
10860 next element in the match) in the original article , and compare that to
10861 the last regexp in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function
10862 will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the
10863 variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be
10864 @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value,
10865 then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
10867 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
10868 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
10869 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
10870 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
10871 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
10872 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
10873 article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed.
10874 If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the
10875 result is thrown away.
10877 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
10878 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
10879 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
10880 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
10881 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
10882 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
10884 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
10885 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
10886 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
10888 @findex message-mail-p
10889 @findex message-news-p
10891 So here's a new example:
10894 (setq gnus-posting-styles
10896 (signature-file "~/.signature")
10898 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
10899 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
10901 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
10902 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
10903 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
10905 (signature my-news-signature))
10906 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
10907 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
10908 ((posting-from-work-p)
10909 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
10910 (address "user@@bar.foo")
10911 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
10912 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
10914 (From (save-excursion
10915 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
10916 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
10918 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
10921 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
10922 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
10923 if you fill many roles.
10930 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
10931 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
10932 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
10933 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
10934 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
10936 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
10937 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
10938 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
10939 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
10940 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
10944 @vindex nndraft-directory
10945 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
10946 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
10947 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
10948 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
10949 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
10950 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
10952 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
10953 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
10956 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
10957 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
10958 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
10959 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
10960 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
10961 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
10962 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
10963 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
10964 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
10965 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
10966 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
10967 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
10968 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
10969 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
10971 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
10972 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
10973 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
10975 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
10976 @kindex D e (Draft)
10977 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
10978 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
10979 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
10981 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
10984 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
10985 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
10986 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
10987 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
10988 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
10989 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
10990 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
10993 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
10994 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
10995 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
10998 @node Rejected Articles
10999 @section Rejected Articles
11000 @cindex rejected articles
11002 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11003 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11004 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11005 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11007 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
11008 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11009 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11010 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
11011 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11013 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11014 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11015 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11017 @node Signing and encrypting
11018 @section Signing and encrypting
11020 @cindex using s/mime
11021 @cindex using smime
11023 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11024 format or PGP/MIME or S/MIME. For decoding such messages, see the
11025 @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11026 (@pxref{Security}).
11028 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11029 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The S/MIME
11030 support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11032 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a MIME part is done
11033 using the @code{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @code{C-c C-m
11034 c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11039 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11040 @findex mml-secure-sign-smime
11042 Digitally sign current MIME part using S/MIME.
11045 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11046 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
11048 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP.
11051 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11052 @findex mml-secure-sign-pgp
11054 Digitally sign current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
11057 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11058 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-smime
11060 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using S/MIME.
11063 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11064 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgp
11066 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP.
11069 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11070 @findex mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime
11072 Digitally encrypt current MIME part using PGP/MIME.
11076 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11078 @node Select Methods
11079 @chapter Select Methods
11080 @cindex foreign groups
11081 @cindex select methods
11083 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11084 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11085 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11086 personal mail group.
11088 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11089 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11090 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11091 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11092 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11093 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11095 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11096 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11098 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11101 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11102 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11103 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11104 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11105 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11107 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11110 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11111 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11112 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11113 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11114 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11115 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11116 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11117 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11121 @node Server Buffer
11122 @section Server Buffer
11124 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11125 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11126 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11127 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11128 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11129 back end represents a virtual server.
11131 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11132 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11133 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11134 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11136 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11137 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11138 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11139 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11140 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11141 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11142 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11144 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11145 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11148 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11149 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11150 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11151 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11152 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11153 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11154 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11157 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11158 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11161 @node Server Buffer Format
11162 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11163 @cindex server buffer format
11165 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11166 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11167 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11168 variable, with some simple extensions:
11173 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11176 The name of this server.
11179 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11182 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11185 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11186 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11187 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11188 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11198 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11201 @node Server Commands
11202 @subsection Server Commands
11203 @cindex server commands
11209 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11210 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11214 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11215 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11218 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11219 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11220 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11224 @findex gnus-server-exit
11225 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11229 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11230 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11234 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11235 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11239 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11240 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11244 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11245 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11249 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11250 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11251 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11256 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11257 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11258 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11259 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11264 @node Example Methods
11265 @subsection Example Methods
11267 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11270 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11273 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11279 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11280 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11283 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11284 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11286 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11287 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11291 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11294 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11295 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11297 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11298 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11299 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11303 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11306 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11309 Here's the method for a public spool:
11313 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11314 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11320 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11321 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11322 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11323 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11324 should probably look something like this:
11328 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11329 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11330 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11331 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11334 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11335 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11336 configuration to the example above:
11339 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11342 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11343 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11344 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11348 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11349 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11350 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11351 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11354 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11355 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11356 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11357 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11360 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11361 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11363 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11364 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11366 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11367 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11368 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11370 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11372 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11373 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11374 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11375 will contain the following:
11385 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11386 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11387 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11390 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11391 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11392 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11395 @node Server Variables
11396 @subsection Server Variables
11398 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11399 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11400 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11401 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11402 won't change the "derived" variables.
11404 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11405 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11406 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11407 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11408 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11409 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11410 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11411 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11412 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11416 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11417 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11418 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11422 @node Servers and Methods
11423 @subsection Servers and Methods
11425 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11426 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11427 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11428 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11432 @node Unavailable Servers
11433 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11435 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11436 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11437 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11438 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11439 actually the case or not.
11441 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11442 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11443 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11444 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11445 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11446 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11447 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11448 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11450 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11451 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11453 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11454 with the following commands:
11460 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11461 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11462 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11466 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11467 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11468 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11472 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11473 Mark the current server as unreachable
11474 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11477 @kindex M-o (Server)
11478 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11479 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11480 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11483 @kindex M-c (Server)
11484 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11485 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11486 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11490 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11491 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11492 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11498 @section Getting News
11499 @cindex reading news
11500 @cindex news back ends
11502 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11503 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11504 or it can read from a local spool.
11507 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11508 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11513 @subsection @sc{nntp}
11516 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11517 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11518 server as the, uhm, address.
11520 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11521 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11522 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11523 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11525 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11526 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11527 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11529 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11534 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11535 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11536 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11538 @cindex authentification
11539 @cindex nntp authentification
11540 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11541 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11542 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11543 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11544 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11545 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11546 present in this hook.
11548 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11549 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11550 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11551 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11552 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11553 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11554 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11555 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11556 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11557 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11558 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11559 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11563 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11566 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11568 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11569 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11570 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11571 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11572 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11573 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11574 @samp{force} is explained below.
11578 Here's an example file:
11581 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11582 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11585 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11586 have to be first, for instance.
11588 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11589 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11590 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11591 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11592 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11593 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11594 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11596 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11597 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11603 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11604 previously mentioned.
11606 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11608 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11609 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11610 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11611 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11612 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11615 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11616 '(("innd" (ding))))
11619 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11621 The default value is
11624 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11625 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11626 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11629 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11630 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11632 @item nntp-maximum-request
11633 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11634 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11635 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11636 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11637 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11638 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11639 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11641 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11642 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11643 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11644 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11645 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11646 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11647 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11648 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11649 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11650 no timeouts are done.
11652 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11653 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11654 @c @cindex PPP connections
11655 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11656 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11657 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11658 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11659 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11660 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11661 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11662 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11663 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11664 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11666 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11667 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11668 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11669 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11670 @c described above.
11672 @item nntp-server-hook
11673 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11674 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11677 @item nntp-buggy-select
11678 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11679 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11681 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11682 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11683 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11684 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11687 @item nntp-xover-commands
11688 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11691 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11692 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11696 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11697 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11698 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11699 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11700 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11701 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11702 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11703 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11704 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11705 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11706 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11708 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11709 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11710 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11712 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11713 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11714 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11715 server closes connection.
11717 @item nntp-record-commands
11718 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11719 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11720 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11721 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11722 that doesn't seem to work.
11724 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11725 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11726 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11727 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11728 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11729 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11730 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11731 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11733 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11734 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11735 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11736 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11737 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11738 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11739 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
11742 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
11745 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
11746 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
11750 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
11751 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
11752 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
11756 @node Direct Functions
11757 @subsubsection Direct Functions
11758 @cindex direct connection functions
11760 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
11761 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
11762 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
11763 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11766 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
11767 @item nntp-open-network-stream
11768 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
11771 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
11772 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
11773 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
11774 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
11775 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
11776 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
11777 define a server as follows:
11780 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
11782 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
11784 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
11785 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
11786 (nntp-port-number "snews")
11787 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
11790 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
11791 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
11792 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
11793 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
11794 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
11795 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
11796 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
11797 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
11801 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11802 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
11803 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
11806 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
11807 session, which is not a good idea.
11811 @node Indirect Functions
11812 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
11813 @cindex indirect connection functions
11815 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
11816 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
11817 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
11818 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
11819 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
11820 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
11823 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11824 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
11825 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
11826 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
11827 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
11829 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11832 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
11833 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
11834 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
11835 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
11838 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11839 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
11840 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
11841 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
11843 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
11846 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
11847 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
11848 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
11851 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
11852 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
11853 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
11854 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
11856 @item nntp-via-user-password
11857 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
11858 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
11860 @item nntp-via-envuser
11861 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
11862 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
11863 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
11864 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
11866 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
11867 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
11868 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
11869 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
11876 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
11881 @item nntp-via-user-name
11882 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
11883 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
11885 @item nntp-via-address
11886 @vindex nntp-via-address
11887 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
11892 @node Common Variables
11893 @subsubsection Common Variables
11895 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
11896 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
11901 @item nntp-pre-command
11902 @vindex nntp-pre-command
11903 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
11904 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
11905 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
11906 wrapper for instance.
11909 @vindex nntp-address
11910 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
11912 @item nntp-port-number
11913 @vindex nntp-port-number
11914 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
11916 @item nntp-end-of-line
11917 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
11918 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
11919 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
11920 using a non native connection function.
11922 @item nntp-telnet-command
11923 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
11924 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
11925 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
11926 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
11928 @item nntp-telnet-switches
11929 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
11930 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
11937 @subsection News Spool
11941 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
11942 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
11943 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
11946 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
11947 anything else) as the address.
11949 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
11950 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
11951 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
11952 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
11956 @item nnspool-inews-program
11957 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
11958 Program used to post an article.
11960 @item nnspool-inews-switches
11961 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
11962 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
11964 @item nnspool-spool-directory
11965 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
11966 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
11967 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
11969 @item nnspool-nov-directory
11970 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
11971 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
11972 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
11974 @item nnspool-lib-dir
11975 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
11976 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
11978 @item nnspool-active-file
11979 @vindex nnspool-active-file
11980 The path to the active file.
11982 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
11983 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
11984 The path to the group descriptions file.
11986 @item nnspool-history-file
11987 @vindex nnspool-history-file
11988 The path to the news history file.
11990 @item nnspool-active-times-file
11991 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
11992 The path to the active date file.
11994 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
11995 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
11996 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
11999 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12000 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12002 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12003 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12004 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12010 @section Getting Mail
12011 @cindex reading mail
12014 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12018 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12019 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12020 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12021 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12022 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12023 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12024 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12025 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12026 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12027 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12028 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12029 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12030 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12034 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12035 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12037 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12038 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12039 of a culture shock.
12041 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12042 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12044 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12045 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12046 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12047 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12049 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12051 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12052 deleted? How awful!
12054 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12055 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12056 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12057 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12060 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12061 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12062 they want to treat a message.
12064 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12065 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12066 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12067 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12068 archived somewhere else.
12070 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12071 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12072 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12073 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12074 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12076 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12077 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12078 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12080 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12081 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12084 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12085 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12086 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12087 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12088 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12090 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12091 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12092 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12093 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12094 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12095 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12099 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12100 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12102 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12103 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12104 and things will happen automatically.
12106 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12107 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12110 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12113 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12114 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12115 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12116 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12117 like any other group.
12119 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12122 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12123 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12124 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12128 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12129 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12130 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12133 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12134 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12135 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12138 @node Splitting Mail
12139 @subsection Splitting Mail
12140 @cindex splitting mail
12141 @cindex mail splitting
12143 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12144 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12145 to be split into groups.
12148 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12149 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12150 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12151 ("mail.other" "")))
12154 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12155 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12156 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12157 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12158 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12159 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12160 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12163 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12166 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12167 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12168 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12169 mail belongs in that group.
12171 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12172 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12173 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12174 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12175 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12176 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12178 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12179 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12180 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12181 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12182 thinks should carry this mail message.
12184 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12185 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12186 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12187 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12189 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12190 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12191 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12192 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12193 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12195 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12198 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12199 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12200 links. If that's the case for you, set
12201 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12202 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12204 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12205 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12206 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12207 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12208 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12209 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12212 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12213 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12214 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12215 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12216 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12217 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12218 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12219 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12220 month's rent money.
12224 @subsection Mail Sources
12226 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12227 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12231 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12232 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12233 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12237 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12238 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12240 @cindex mail server
12243 @cindex mail source
12245 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12246 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12251 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12254 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12255 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12256 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12259 The following mail source types are available:
12263 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12269 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12270 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
12273 An example file mail source:
12276 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12279 Or using the default path:
12285 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12286 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12287 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12290 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12294 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12297 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12301 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12304 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12306 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12309 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12313 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12314 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12315 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12316 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12317 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12318 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12319 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12320 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12326 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12330 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12334 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12335 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12336 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12337 predicate are considered.
12341 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12345 An example directory mail source:
12348 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12353 Get mail from a POP server.
12359 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12360 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12363 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12364 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12365 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12366 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12367 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12370 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12374 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12378 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12379 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12382 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12385 The valid format specifier characters are:
12389 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12390 included in this string.
12393 The name of the server.
12396 The port number of the server.
12399 The user name to use.
12402 The password to use.
12405 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12406 corresponding keywords.
12409 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12410 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12413 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12414 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12417 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12418 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12421 @item :authentication
12422 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12423 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12428 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12429 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12431 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12432 default user name, and default fetcher:
12438 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12441 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12442 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12445 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12448 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12452 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12453 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12454 contains exactly one mail.
12460 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12461 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12464 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12465 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12467 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12468 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12469 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12472 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12473 from locking problems).
12477 Two example maildir mail sources:
12480 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12481 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12485 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12490 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12491 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12492 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12493 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12496 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12497 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12503 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12504 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12507 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12508 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12511 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12515 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12519 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12520 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12521 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12522 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12524 @item :authentication
12525 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12526 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12527 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12528 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12531 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12532 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12533 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12539 The valid format specifier characters are:
12543 The name of the server.
12546 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12549 The port number of the server.
12552 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12553 corresponding keywords.
12556 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12557 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12560 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12561 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12562 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12563 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
12564 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12565 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
12568 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12569 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12570 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12571 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
12574 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12575 after finishing the fetch.
12579 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12582 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12584 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12588 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
12589 webmail.netscape.com, www.netaddress.com, www.my-deja.com.
12591 NOTE: Now mail.yahoo.com provides POP3 service, so @sc{pop} mail source
12594 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12595 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12597 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
12603 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12604 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12607 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12611 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12615 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12616 folder after finishing the fetch.
12620 An example webmail source:
12623 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12625 :password "secret")
12630 @item Common Keywords
12631 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12637 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12638 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12642 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
12647 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
12648 useful when you use local mail and news.
12653 @subsubsection Function Interface
12655 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
12656 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
12657 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
12658 consider the following mail-source setting:
12661 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
12662 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
12665 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
12666 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
12667 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
12668 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
12669 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
12671 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
12674 @node Mail Source Customization
12675 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
12677 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
12678 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
12682 @item mail-source-crash-box
12683 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
12684 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
12685 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
12687 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
12688 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
12689 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
12691 @item mail-source-directory
12692 @vindex mail-source-directory
12693 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
12694 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
12695 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
12698 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12699 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
12700 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
12701 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
12702 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
12703 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
12705 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
12706 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
12707 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
12709 @item mail-source-movemail-program
12710 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
12711 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
12712 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
12717 @node Fetching Mail
12718 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
12720 @vindex mail-sources
12721 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
12722 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
12723 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
12724 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
12726 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
12727 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
12730 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
12731 mail server, you'd say something like:
12736 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12737 :password "secret")))
12740 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
12744 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
12745 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
12748 :password "secret")))
12752 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
12753 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
12754 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
12755 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
12756 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
12757 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
12761 @node Mail Back End Variables
12762 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
12764 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
12768 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12769 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
12770 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
12771 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
12773 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
12774 @item nnmail-split-hook
12775 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
12776 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
12777 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
12778 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
12779 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
12780 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
12781 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
12782 in the buffer will show up in any files.
12783 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
12786 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12787 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12788 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12789 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12790 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
12791 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
12792 starting to handle the new mail) and
12793 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
12794 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
12795 default file modes the new mail files get:
12798 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
12799 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
12801 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
12802 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
12805 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
12806 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
12807 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
12808 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
12809 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
12810 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
12811 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
12813 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
12814 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
12815 @findex delete-file
12816 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
12818 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12819 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
12820 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
12821 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
12822 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
12827 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
12828 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
12829 @cindex mail splitting
12830 @cindex fancy mail splitting
12832 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
12833 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
12834 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
12835 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
12836 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
12837 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
12839 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
12842 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
12843 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
12844 ;; from real errors.
12845 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
12847 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
12848 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
12849 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
12850 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
12851 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
12852 ;; Other mailing lists...
12853 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
12854 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
12855 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
12856 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
12857 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
12858 ;; message was really cross-posted.
12859 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
12860 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
12862 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
12863 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
12867 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
12868 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
12869 the five possible split syntaxes:
12874 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
12875 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
12879 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
12880 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
12881 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
12882 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
12883 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
12884 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
12885 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
12886 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
12889 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12890 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
12891 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
12892 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
12895 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12896 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
12899 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
12900 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
12903 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
12904 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
12905 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
12906 function should return a @var{split}.
12909 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
12910 body of the messages:
12913 (defun split-on-body ()
12915 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
12916 (goto-char (point-min))
12917 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
12921 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
12922 when the @code{:} function is run.
12925 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
12926 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
12927 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
12931 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
12935 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
12936 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
12937 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
12938 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
12939 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
12941 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
12942 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
12943 are expanded as specified by the variable
12944 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
12945 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
12948 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
12949 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
12950 when all this splitting is performed.
12952 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
12953 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
12954 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
12957 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
12960 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
12961 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
12963 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
12964 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
12965 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
12966 groupings 1 through 9.
12968 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
12969 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
12970 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
12971 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
12972 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
12973 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
12974 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
12975 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
12976 it once per thread.
12978 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
12979 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
12980 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
12983 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
12984 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
12985 ;; other splits go here
12989 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
12990 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
12991 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
12992 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
12993 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
12994 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
12995 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
12996 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
12997 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
12998 unless the group name matches the regexp
12999 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13000 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13001 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13002 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13003 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13004 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13005 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13006 messages goes into the new group.
13009 @node Group Mail Splitting
13010 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13011 @cindex mail splitting
13012 @cindex group mail splitting
13014 @findex gnus-group-split
13015 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13016 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13017 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13018 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13019 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13020 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13021 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13022 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13024 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13025 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13026 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13027 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13029 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13030 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13031 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13032 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13033 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13034 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13035 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13037 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13038 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13039 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13040 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13041 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13042 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13043 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13045 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13046 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13047 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13048 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13049 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13050 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13051 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13052 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13053 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13054 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13055 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13056 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13057 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13059 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13064 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13065 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13067 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13068 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13069 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13070 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13072 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13075 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13076 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13077 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13080 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13081 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13082 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13086 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13087 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13088 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13092 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13095 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13096 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13097 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13098 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13099 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13100 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13101 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13102 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13103 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13105 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13106 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13107 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13108 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13109 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13110 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13111 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13112 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13113 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13115 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13116 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13117 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13118 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13119 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13120 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13123 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13126 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13127 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13128 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13129 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13130 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13133 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13134 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13135 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13136 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13138 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13139 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13140 @cindex incorporating old mail
13141 @cindex import old mail
13143 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13144 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13145 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13148 Doing so can be quite easy.
13150 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13151 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13152 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13153 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13154 your @code{nnml} groups.
13160 Go to the group buffer.
13163 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13164 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13167 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13170 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13171 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13174 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13175 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13178 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13179 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13180 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13181 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13182 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13184 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13185 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13186 using the new mail back end.
13189 @node Expiring Mail
13190 @subsection Expiring Mail
13191 @cindex article expiry
13193 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13194 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13195 different approach to mail reading.
13197 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13198 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13199 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13200 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13201 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13202 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13205 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13206 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
13207 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13208 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13209 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13210 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13211 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13212 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13214 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13215 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
13216 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
13217 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
13218 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
13219 column in the summary buffer.
13221 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13222 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13223 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13224 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13227 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13229 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13230 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13231 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13234 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13235 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13236 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13237 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13238 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13240 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13241 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13244 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13245 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13248 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13249 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13251 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13252 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13253 don't really mix very well.
13255 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13256 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13257 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13258 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13261 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13262 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13263 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13264 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13267 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13269 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13271 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13273 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13275 ((string= group "important")
13281 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13282 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13284 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13285 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13286 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13289 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13290 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13292 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13293 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13294 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13295 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13296 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13297 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13298 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13299 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13300 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13301 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13302 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13303 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13304 name or @code{delete}.
13306 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13308 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13311 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13312 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13313 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13314 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13315 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13318 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13319 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13320 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13321 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13322 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13325 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13326 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13327 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13328 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13329 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13330 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13332 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13333 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13334 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13335 easier for procmail users.
13337 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13338 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13339 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13340 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13341 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13342 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13343 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13344 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13345 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13346 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13347 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13348 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13349 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13352 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13354 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13355 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13356 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13357 auto-expire turned on.
13361 @subsection Washing Mail
13362 @cindex mail washing
13363 @cindex list server brain damage
13364 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13366 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13367 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13368 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13369 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13370 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13371 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13373 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13374 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13375 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13378 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13379 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13380 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13381 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13384 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13385 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13386 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13387 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13388 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13391 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13392 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13393 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13394 Emacs running on MS machines.
13398 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13399 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13400 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13401 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13404 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13405 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13406 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13407 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13409 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13410 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13411 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13412 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13413 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13414 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13415 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13418 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13419 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13422 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13423 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13426 This can also be done non-destructively with
13427 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13429 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13430 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13431 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13433 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13434 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13436 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13437 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13438 @code{References} headers.
13442 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13443 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13444 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13448 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13449 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13450 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13457 @subsection Duplicates
13459 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13460 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13461 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13462 @cindex duplicate mails
13463 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13464 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13465 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13466 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13467 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13468 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13469 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13470 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13471 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13472 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13473 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13474 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13475 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13477 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13478 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13479 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13480 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13482 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13485 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13486 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13490 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13491 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13492 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13493 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13494 (any mail "mail.misc")
13501 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13502 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13507 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13508 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13509 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13510 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13511 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13514 @node Not Reading Mail
13515 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13517 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13518 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13519 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13521 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13522 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13523 mail, which should help.
13525 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13526 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13527 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13528 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13529 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13530 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13531 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13532 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13533 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13534 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13535 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13537 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13538 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13542 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13543 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13545 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13546 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13547 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13549 There are five different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13550 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13551 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
13552 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
13555 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13556 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13557 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13558 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13559 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13560 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13564 @node Unix Mail Box
13565 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13567 @cindex unix mail box
13569 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13570 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13571 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13572 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13573 which group it belongs in.
13575 Virtual server settings:
13578 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13579 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13580 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13583 @item nnmbox-active-file
13584 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13585 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13586 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13588 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13589 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13590 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13591 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13596 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13600 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13601 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13602 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13603 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13604 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13606 Virtual server settings:
13609 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13610 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13611 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13613 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13614 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13615 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13616 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13618 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13619 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13620 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
13626 @subsubsection Mail Spool
13628 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
13630 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
13631 format. It should be used with some caution.
13633 @vindex nnml-directory
13634 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
13635 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
13636 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
13637 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
13639 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
13642 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
13643 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
13644 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
13645 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
13646 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
13647 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
13648 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
13649 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
13651 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
13652 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
13653 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
13654 back end when it comes to reading mail.
13656 @cindex self contained nnml servers
13657 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
13658 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13659 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13660 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
13661 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
13662 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
13663 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
13664 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
13667 Virtual server settings:
13670 @item nnml-directory
13671 @vindex nnml-directory
13672 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
13673 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
13676 @item nnml-active-file
13677 @vindex nnml-active-file
13678 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
13679 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
13681 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
13682 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
13683 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13684 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
13686 @item nnml-get-new-mail
13687 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13688 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
13691 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
13692 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
13693 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13694 default is @code{nil}.
13696 @item nnml-nov-file-name
13697 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
13698 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
13700 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13701 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
13702 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
13704 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
13705 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
13706 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13707 default is @code{nil}.
13709 @item nnml-marks-file-name
13710 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
13711 The name of the @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
13715 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
13716 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
13717 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
13718 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
13719 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
13720 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
13721 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
13726 @subsubsection MH Spool
13728 @cindex mh-e mail spool
13730 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
13731 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
13732 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
13733 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
13735 Virtual server settings:
13738 @item nnmh-directory
13739 @vindex nnmh-directory
13740 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
13741 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13744 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
13745 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13746 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
13750 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
13751 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
13752 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
13753 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
13754 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
13755 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
13756 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
13761 @subsubsection Mail Folders
13763 @cindex mbox folders
13764 @cindex mail folders
13766 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
13767 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
13768 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
13771 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
13772 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
13773 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
13774 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
13775 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
13776 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
13777 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
13778 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
13779 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
13780 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
13781 @code{nnfolder} directory).
13783 Virtual server settings:
13786 @item nnfolder-directory
13787 @vindex nnfolder-directory
13788 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
13789 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
13792 @item nnfolder-active-file
13793 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
13794 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
13796 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13797 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
13798 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
13799 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
13801 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
13802 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13803 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
13806 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13807 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
13808 @cindex backup files
13809 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
13810 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
13811 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
13812 your @file{.emacs} file:
13815 (defun turn-off-backup ()
13816 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
13818 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
13821 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13822 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
13823 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
13824 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
13825 extract some information from it before removing it.
13827 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13828 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
13829 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
13830 default is @code{nil}.
13832 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13833 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
13834 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
13836 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
13837 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
13838 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
13839 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13841 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13842 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
13843 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
13844 default is @code{nil}.
13846 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13847 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
13848 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
13850 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
13851 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
13852 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
13853 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
13858 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
13859 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
13860 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
13861 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
13862 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
13863 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
13866 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
13867 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
13869 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
13870 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
13871 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
13872 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
13873 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
13875 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
13876 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
13877 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
13878 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
13879 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
13880 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
13881 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
13882 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
13885 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
13886 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
13887 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
13888 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
13893 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
13894 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
13895 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
13896 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
13897 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
13898 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
13899 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
13900 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
13901 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
13902 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
13903 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
13904 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
13905 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
13910 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
13911 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
13912 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
13913 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
13914 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
13915 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
13916 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
13917 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
13918 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
13919 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
13920 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
13921 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
13922 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
13923 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
13925 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
13926 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
13931 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
13932 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
13933 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
13934 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
13935 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
13936 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
13937 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
13938 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
13939 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
13940 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
13941 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
13942 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
13943 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
13944 provided by the active file and overviews.
13946 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
13947 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
13948 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
13949 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
13950 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
13953 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
13954 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
13959 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
13960 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
13961 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
13962 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
13963 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
13964 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
13965 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
13969 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
13970 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
13971 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
13972 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
13973 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
13974 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
13975 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
13976 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
13977 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
13979 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
13980 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
13981 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
13982 friendly mail back end all over.
13987 @node Browsing the Web
13988 @section Browsing the Web
13990 @cindex browsing the web
13994 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
13995 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
13996 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
13997 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
13998 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
13999 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14000 even know what a news group is.
14002 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14003 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14004 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14005 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14006 you mad in the end.
14008 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14011 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14012 interfaces to these sources.
14016 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14017 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14018 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14019 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14020 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14021 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14024 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14026 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14027 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14028 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14029 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14030 though, you should be ok.
14032 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14033 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14034 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14035 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14036 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14038 @node Archiving Mail
14039 @subsection Archiving Mail
14040 @cindex archiving mail
14041 @cindex backup of mail
14043 Some of the back ends, notably nnml and nnfolder, now actually store
14044 the article marks with each group. For these servers, archiving and
14045 restoring a group while preserving marks is fairly simple.
14047 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14048 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @code{.newsrc.eld} deity
14051 To archive an entire @code{nnml} or @code{nnfolder} server, take a
14052 recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need to shut down
14053 Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or similar. You
14054 restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and adding a server
14055 definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The @ref{Article
14056 Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things might interfer
14057 with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus before you
14060 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml} or
14061 @code{nnfolder} groups, while preserving marks. For @code{nnml}, you
14062 copy all files in the group's directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need
14063 to copy both the base folder file itself (@code{FOO}, say), and the
14064 marks file (@code{FOO.mrk} in this example). Restoring the group is
14065 done with @kbd{G m} from the Group buffer. The last step makes Gnus
14066 notice the new directory.
14069 @subsection Web Searches
14073 @cindex InReference
14074 @cindex Usenet searches
14075 @cindex searching the Usenet
14077 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14078 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14079 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14080 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14081 searches without having to use a browser.
14083 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14084 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14085 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14086 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14087 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14089 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14090 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14091 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14092 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14093 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14094 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14095 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14096 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14097 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14098 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14101 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14102 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14103 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14104 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14105 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14106 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14108 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14109 to use @code{nnweb}.
14111 Virtual server variables:
14116 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14117 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
14121 @vindex nnweb-search
14122 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14124 @item nnweb-max-hits
14125 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14126 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14129 @item nnweb-type-definition
14130 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14131 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14132 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14137 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14141 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14144 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14147 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14151 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14158 @subsection Slashdot
14162 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14163 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14164 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14166 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14167 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14170 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14171 '((nnslashdot "")))
14174 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14175 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14176 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14177 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14178 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14181 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14182 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14184 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14185 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14186 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14187 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14188 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14189 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14192 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14195 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14196 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14197 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14198 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14199 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14200 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14201 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14203 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14204 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14205 The login name to use when posting.
14207 @item nnslashdot-password
14208 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14209 The password to use when posting.
14211 @item nnslashdot-directory
14212 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14213 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14214 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14216 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14217 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14218 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14219 news articles and comments. The default is
14220 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14222 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14223 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14224 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14226 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14228 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14229 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14230 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14232 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14234 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14235 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14236 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14238 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14239 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14240 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14241 updated. The default is 0.
14248 @subsection Ultimate
14250 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14252 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14253 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14254 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14255 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14257 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14258 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14259 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14260 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14261 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14262 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14263 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14265 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14268 @item nnultimate-directory
14269 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14270 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14271 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14276 @subsection Web Archive
14278 @cindex Web Archive
14280 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14281 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14282 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14283 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14286 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14287 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14288 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14289 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14290 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14291 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14292 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14294 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14297 @item nnwarchive-directory
14298 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14299 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14300 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14302 @item nnwarchive-login
14303 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14304 The account name on the web server.
14306 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14307 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14308 The password for your account on the web server.
14316 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14317 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14318 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14321 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14322 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14325 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14328 @item nnrss-directory
14329 @vindex nnrss-directory
14330 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14331 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14335 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14336 the summary buffer.
14339 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14340 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14342 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14344 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14345 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14348 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14351 (require 'browse-url)
14353 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14355 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14358 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14359 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14361 (browse-url (cdr url))
14362 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14364 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14365 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14366 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14367 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14370 @node Customizing w3
14371 @subsection Customizing w3
14377 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14378 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14379 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14381 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14382 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14383 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14386 (eval-after-load "w3"
14388 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14389 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14390 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14391 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14393 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14396 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14397 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14406 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14407 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14408 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14409 specify the network address of the server.
14411 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14412 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14413 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14414 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
14415 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
14417 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
14418 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
14419 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
14420 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
14422 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14423 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
14424 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14425 usage explained in this section.
14427 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14428 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
14429 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
14432 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14433 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14434 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14436 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14437 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14438 ; a UW server running on localhost
14440 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14441 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14442 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14443 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14444 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14445 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14446 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14447 (nnimap-stream network))
14448 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14450 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14451 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14452 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14455 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14460 @item nnimap-address
14461 @vindex nnimap-address
14463 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14464 server name if not specified.
14466 @item nnimap-server-port
14467 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14468 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14470 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14473 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14474 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14477 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14478 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14479 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14480 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14481 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14482 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14483 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14485 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14486 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14487 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14490 Example server specification:
14493 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14494 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14495 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14498 @item nnimap-stream
14499 @vindex nnimap-stream
14500 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14501 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14502 of SSL/TLS. (IMAP over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14503 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14505 Example server specification:
14508 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14509 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14512 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14516 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
14517 @samp{imtest} program.
14519 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14521 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14522 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14525 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14526 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14527 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14529 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14531 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14534 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14535 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14536 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14537 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14538 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14539 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14540 restrictions on IMAP commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14541 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14542 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14545 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14546 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14547 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14548 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
14549 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
14550 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
14551 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
14552 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
14553 distribution, for instance).
14555 @vindex imap-shell-program
14556 @vindex imap-shell-host
14557 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
14558 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
14560 @item nnimap-authenticator
14561 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
14563 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
14564 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
14566 Example server specification:
14569 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14570 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
14573 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
14577 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
14578 external program @code{imtest}.
14580 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
14583 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
14584 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
14586 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
14588 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
14590 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
14593 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
14595 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
14596 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
14597 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
14598 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
14599 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
14600 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
14603 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
14604 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
14605 running in circles yet?
14607 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
14608 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
14611 The possible options are:
14616 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
14619 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
14620 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
14621 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
14622 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
14624 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
14629 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
14630 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
14632 If non-nil, marks dormant articles as ticked (as well), for other IMAP
14633 clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will naturally still (only) be
14634 marked as ticked. This is to make dormant articles stand out, just
14635 like ticked articles, in other IMAP clients. (In other words, Gnus has
14636 two ``Tick'' marks and IMAP has only one.)
14638 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
14639 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
14642 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
14643 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14644 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
14645 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
14648 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
14649 as ticked for other users.
14651 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
14653 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
14655 This variable contain the IMAP search command sent to server when
14656 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
14657 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
14658 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
14660 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
14661 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
14662 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
14663 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
14665 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
14666 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
14668 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
14669 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
14670 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
14676 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
14677 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
14678 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
14683 @node Splitting in IMAP
14684 @subsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
14685 @cindex splitting imap mail
14687 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
14688 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
14689 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
14690 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
14691 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
14695 Here are the variables of interest:
14699 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
14700 @cindex splitting, crosspost
14702 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
14704 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
14705 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
14707 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
14709 @item nnimap-split-inbox
14710 @cindex splitting, inbox
14712 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
14714 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
14715 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
14719 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
14720 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
14723 No nnmail equivalent.
14725 @item nnimap-split-rule
14726 @cindex Splitting, rules
14727 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
14729 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
14732 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
14733 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
14734 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
14735 Neither did I, we need examples.
14738 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14740 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
14741 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
14742 ("INBOX.private" "")))
14745 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
14746 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
14747 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
14749 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
14750 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
14754 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
14757 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14758 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
14759 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
14760 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
14762 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
14763 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
14764 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
14765 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
14766 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
14767 them every time you fetch new mail.)
14769 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
14770 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
14771 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
14773 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
14774 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
14775 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14777 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
14779 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
14780 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
14781 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
14784 (setq nnimap-split-rule
14785 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
14786 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
14787 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
14788 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
14789 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
14792 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
14793 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
14794 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
14795 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
14796 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
14797 group/function elements.
14799 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
14801 @item nnimap-split-predicate
14803 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
14805 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
14806 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
14808 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
14809 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
14810 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
14813 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14814 @cindex splitting, fancy
14815 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
14816 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
14818 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14819 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
14820 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14822 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
14823 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
14824 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
14825 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
14830 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
14831 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
14834 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14838 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
14839 @subsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14840 @cindex editing imap acls
14841 @cindex Access Control Lists
14842 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
14844 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
14846 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
14847 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
14848 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
14851 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
14852 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
14853 editing window with detailed instructions.
14855 Some possible uses:
14859 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
14860 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
14861 follow the list without subscribing to it.
14863 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
14864 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
14865 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
14869 @node Expunging mailboxes
14870 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
14874 @cindex Manual expunging
14876 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
14878 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
14879 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
14880 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
14882 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
14887 @node Other Sources
14888 @section Other Sources
14890 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
14891 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
14895 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
14896 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
14897 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
14898 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
14899 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
14903 @node Directory Groups
14904 @subsection Directory Groups
14906 @cindex directory groups
14908 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
14909 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
14912 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
14913 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
14914 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
14915 back end to read directories. Big deal.
14917 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
14918 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
14919 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
14920 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
14921 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
14923 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
14925 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
14926 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
14927 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
14928 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
14931 @node Anything Groups
14932 @subsection Anything Groups
14935 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
14936 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
14937 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
14940 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
14941 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
14942 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
14943 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
14944 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
14945 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
14946 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
14947 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
14948 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
14949 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
14952 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
14953 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
14954 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
14955 in the article buffer, just as usual.
14957 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
14958 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
14959 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
14960 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
14962 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
14963 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
14964 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
14965 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
14966 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
14967 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
14968 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
14969 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
14974 @item nneething-map-file-directory
14975 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
14976 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
14977 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
14979 @item nneething-exclude-files
14980 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
14981 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
14982 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
14984 @item nneething-include-files
14985 @vindex nneething-include-files
14986 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
14987 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
14989 @item nneething-map-file
14990 @vindex nneething-map-file
14991 Name of the map files.
14995 @node Document Groups
14996 @subsection Document Groups
14998 @cindex documentation group
15001 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15002 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15009 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15014 The standard Unix mbox file.
15016 @cindex MMDF mail box
15018 The MMDF mail box format.
15021 Several news articles appended into a file.
15024 @cindex rnews batch files
15025 The rnews batch transport format.
15026 @cindex forwarded messages
15029 Forwarded articles.
15032 Netscape mail boxes.
15035 MIME multipart messages.
15037 @item standard-digest
15038 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15041 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15044 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15045 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15046 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15049 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15050 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15051 group. And that's it.
15053 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15054 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15055 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15056 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15057 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15058 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15059 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15060 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15061 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15062 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15064 Virtual server variables:
15067 @item nndoc-article-type
15068 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15069 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15070 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15071 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15072 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail},
15073 @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman} or @code{guess}.
15075 @item nndoc-post-type
15076 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15077 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15078 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15083 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15087 @node Document Server Internals
15088 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15090 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15091 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15092 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15093 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15095 First, here's an example document type definition:
15099 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15100 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15103 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15104 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15105 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15106 types can be defined with very few settings:
15109 @item first-article
15110 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15111 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15114 @item article-begin
15115 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15116 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15118 @item head-begin-function
15119 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15122 @item nndoc-head-begin
15123 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15126 @item nndoc-head-end
15127 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15128 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15130 @item body-begin-function
15131 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15135 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15138 @item body-end-function
15139 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15143 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15146 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15147 regexp will be totally ignored.
15151 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15152 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15153 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15154 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15155 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15158 @item prepare-body-function
15159 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15160 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15161 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15163 @item article-transform-function
15164 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15165 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15166 body of the article.
15168 @item generate-head-function
15169 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15170 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15171 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15172 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15176 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15181 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15182 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15183 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15184 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15185 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15186 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15187 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15188 (subtype digest guess))
15191 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15192 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15193 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15194 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15195 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15197 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15198 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15199 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15200 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15201 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
15202 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15203 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15204 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15205 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15206 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15214 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15215 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15216 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15218 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15219 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15220 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15223 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15224 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15225 that interested in doing things properly.
15227 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15228 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15231 First some terminology:
15236 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15237 get news and/or mail from.
15240 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15241 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15244 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15248 @item message packets
15249 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15250 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15251 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15253 @item response packets
15254 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15255 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15256 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15266 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15267 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15268 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15269 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15272 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15275 You put the packet in your home directory.
15278 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15279 the native or secondary server.
15282 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15283 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15286 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15290 You transfer this packet to the server.
15293 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15296 You then repeat until you die.
15300 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15301 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15304 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15305 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15306 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15310 @node SOUP Commands
15311 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15313 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15317 @kindex G s b (Group)
15318 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15319 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15320 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15321 process/prefix convention.
15324 @kindex G s w (Group)
15325 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
15326 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
15329 @kindex G s s (Group)
15330 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
15331 Send all replies from the replies packet
15332 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15335 @kindex G s p (Group)
15336 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15337 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15340 @kindex G s r (Group)
15341 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15342 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15345 @kindex O s (Summary)
15346 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15347 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15348 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15349 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15354 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15359 @item gnus-soup-directory
15360 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15361 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15362 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15364 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15365 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15366 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15367 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15369 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15370 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15371 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15372 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15374 @item gnus-soup-packer
15375 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15376 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15377 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15379 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15380 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15381 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15382 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15384 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15385 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15386 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15388 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15389 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15390 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15391 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15397 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
15400 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15401 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15402 you can read them at leisure.
15404 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15408 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15409 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15410 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15411 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15413 @item nnsoup-directory
15414 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15415 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15416 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15418 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15419 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15420 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15421 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15423 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15424 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15425 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15426 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15427 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15429 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15430 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15431 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15432 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15434 @item nnsoup-active-file
15435 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15436 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15437 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15438 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15439 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15441 @item nnsoup-packer
15442 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15443 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15444 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15446 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15447 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15448 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15449 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15451 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15452 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15453 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15456 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15457 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15458 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15461 @item nnsoup-always-save
15462 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15463 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15469 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15471 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15472 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15473 more for that to happen.
15475 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15476 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15477 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15480 In specific, this is what it does:
15483 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15484 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15487 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15488 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15489 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15492 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15493 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15494 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15497 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15498 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15499 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15501 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15507 @item nngateway-address
15508 @vindex nngateway-address
15509 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15511 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15512 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15513 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15514 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
15515 transformation should be called, and defaults to
15516 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
15517 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
15520 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
15521 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
15522 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
15525 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
15528 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
15531 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
15534 The following pre-defined functions exist:
15536 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15539 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
15540 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15541 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
15543 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15545 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
15546 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
15547 @code{nngateway-address}.
15552 (setq gnus-post-method
15554 "mail2news@@replay.com"
15555 (nngateway-header-transformation
15556 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
15564 So, to use this, simply say something like:
15567 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
15572 @node Combined Groups
15573 @section Combined Groups
15575 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
15579 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
15580 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
15584 @node Virtual Groups
15585 @subsection Virtual Groups
15587 @cindex virtual groups
15588 @cindex merging groups
15590 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
15593 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
15594 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
15595 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
15597 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
15598 regexp to match component groups.
15600 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
15601 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
15602 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
15603 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
15604 the virtual group.)
15606 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
15607 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
15610 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
15613 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
15614 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
15616 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
15617 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
15618 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
15619 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
15622 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
15625 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
15626 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
15627 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
15629 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
15630 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
15631 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
15632 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
15633 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
15635 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
15636 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
15637 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
15639 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
15640 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
15641 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
15642 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15643 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
15644 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
15645 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
15646 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
15647 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
15648 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
15649 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
15651 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
15652 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
15653 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
15654 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
15655 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
15656 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
15657 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
15659 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
15660 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
15662 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
15663 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
15667 @node Kibozed Groups
15668 @subsection Kibozed Groups
15672 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
15673 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
15674 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
15675 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
15677 @kindex G k (Group)
15678 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
15681 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
15682 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
15683 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
15684 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
15686 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
15687 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
15688 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
15690 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
15691 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
15692 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
15693 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
15694 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
15695 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
15696 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
15697 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
15699 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
15700 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
15701 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
15702 Stranger things have happened.
15704 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
15705 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
15707 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
15708 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
15709 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
15710 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
15711 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
15712 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
15714 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
15715 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
15718 @node Gnus Unplugged
15719 @section Gnus Unplugged
15724 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
15726 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
15727 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
15728 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
15729 read news. Believe it or not.
15731 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
15732 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
15733 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
15734 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
15735 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
15737 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
15738 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
15739 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
15740 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
15741 reading news on a machine.
15743 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
15747 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
15748 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
15752 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
15753 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15760 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
15762 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
15765 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
15766 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
15767 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
15768 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
15769 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
15770 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
15771 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
15772 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
15773 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
15774 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
15779 @subsection Agent Basics
15781 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
15783 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
15784 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
15785 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
15786 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
15788 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
15789 connected to the net continuously.
15791 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
15792 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
15794 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
15799 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
15800 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
15801 already fetched while in this mode.
15804 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
15805 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
15806 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
15807 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
15808 Source Specifiers}).
15811 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
15812 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
15813 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
15814 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
15815 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
15818 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
15819 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
15820 then you read the news offline.
15823 And then you go to step 2.
15826 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
15832 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
15833 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
15834 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
15835 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
15836 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
15837 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
15840 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
15847 @node Agent Categories
15848 @subsection Agent Categories
15850 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
15851 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
15852 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
15853 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
15854 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
15855 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
15856 you're interested in the articles anyway.
15858 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
15859 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
15860 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
15861 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
15862 managing categories.
15865 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
15866 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
15867 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
15871 @node Category Syntax
15872 @subsubsection Category Syntax
15874 A category consists of two things.
15878 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
15879 are eligible for downloading; and
15882 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
15883 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
15884 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
15887 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
15888 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
15889 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
15890 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
15892 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
15893 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
15894 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
15896 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
15897 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
15898 operators sprinkled in between.
15900 Perhaps some examples are in order.
15902 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
15903 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
15909 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
15910 short (for some value of ``short'').
15912 Here's a more complex predicate:
15921 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
15922 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
15925 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
15926 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
15927 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
15929 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
15930 you want to do, you can write your own.
15934 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
15935 lines; default 100.
15938 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
15939 lines; default 200.
15942 True iff the article has a download score less than
15943 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
15946 True iff the article has a download score greater than
15947 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
15950 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
15951 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
15952 checksum and sees whether articles match.
15961 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
15962 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
15963 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
15966 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
15967 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
15968 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
15969 something along the lines of the following:
15972 (defun my-article-old-p ()
15973 "Say whether an article is old."
15974 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
15975 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
15978 with the predicate then defined as:
15981 (not my-article-old-p)
15984 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
15985 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
15986 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
15987 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
15990 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
15991 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
15992 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
15995 and simply specify your predicate as:
16001 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16002 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16003 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16004 just don't give a damn.
16006 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16007 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16008 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16009 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16010 parameters like so:
16013 (agent-predicate . short)
16016 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16017 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16018 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16020 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16023 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16026 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16027 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16028 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16031 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16032 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16033 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16034 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16035 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16036 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16038 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16039 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16040 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16041 if it's to be specific to that group.
16043 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16050 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16051 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16057 Category specification
16061 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16067 Group Parameter specification
16070 (agent-score ("from"
16071 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16076 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16082 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16089 Category specification
16092 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16098 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16102 Group Parameter specification
16105 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16108 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16113 Use @code{normal} score files
16115 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16116 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16117 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16118 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16120 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16121 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16122 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16123 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16127 Category Specification
16134 Group Parameter specification
16137 (agent-score . file)
16142 @node Category Buffer
16143 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16145 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16146 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16147 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16149 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16153 @kindex q (Category)
16154 @findex gnus-category-exit
16155 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16158 @kindex k (Category)
16159 @findex gnus-category-kill
16160 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16163 @kindex c (Category)
16164 @findex gnus-category-copy
16165 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16168 @kindex a (Category)
16169 @findex gnus-category-add
16170 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16173 @kindex p (Category)
16174 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16175 Edit the predicate of the current category
16176 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16179 @kindex g (Category)
16180 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16181 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16182 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16185 @kindex s (Category)
16186 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16187 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16188 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16191 @kindex l (Category)
16192 @findex gnus-category-list
16193 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16197 @node Category Variables
16198 @subsubsection Category Variables
16201 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16202 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16203 Hook run in category buffers.
16205 @item gnus-category-line-format
16206 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16207 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16208 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16212 The name of the category.
16215 The number of groups in the category.
16218 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16219 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16220 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16222 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16223 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16224 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16226 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16227 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16228 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16230 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16231 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16232 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16235 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16236 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16237 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16243 @node Agent Commands
16244 @subsection Agent Commands
16246 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16247 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16248 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16252 * Group Agent Commands::
16253 * Summary Agent Commands::
16254 * Server Agent Commands::
16257 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
16258 following incantation:
16260 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16262 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
16267 @node Group Agent Commands
16268 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16272 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16273 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16274 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16275 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16278 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16279 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16280 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16283 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16284 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16285 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16286 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16289 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16290 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16291 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16292 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16295 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16296 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16297 Add the current group to an Agent category
16298 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16299 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16302 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16303 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16304 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16305 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16306 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16309 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16310 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16311 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16317 @node Summary Agent Commands
16318 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16322 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16323 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16324 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16327 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16328 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16329 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16330 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
16333 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
16334 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
16335 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16338 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16339 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16340 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16343 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16344 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16345 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16346 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16351 @node Server Agent Commands
16352 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16356 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16357 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16358 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16359 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16362 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16363 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16364 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16365 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16371 @subsection Agent Expiry
16373 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16374 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16375 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16376 @cindex Agent expiry
16377 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16380 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16381 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16382 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16383 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16384 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16385 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16387 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
16388 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
16389 expiry in different groups.
16392 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
16398 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
16399 method---it must always match all groups.
16401 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16402 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16403 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16404 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16405 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16408 @node Agent and IMAP
16409 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16411 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16412 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16413 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16414 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16416 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16417 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16418 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16419 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16421 Gnus keep track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16422 Agent by default. When you plug back in, by default Gnus will check if
16423 you have any changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these
16424 with the server. This behavior is customizable with
16425 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16427 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16428 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16429 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, the
16430 default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if
16431 you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other
16432 value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16434 If you do not wish to automatically synchronize flags when you
16435 re-connect, this can be done manually with the
16436 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16437 in the group buffer by default.
16439 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16440 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16445 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16448 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16452 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16453 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16454 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16455 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16456 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16457 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16458 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16459 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16462 @node Outgoing Messages
16463 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16465 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16466 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
16467 after posting, and edit them at will.
16469 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16470 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16471 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16472 messages in the draft group.
16476 @node Agent Variables
16477 @subsection Agent Variables
16480 @item gnus-agent-directory
16481 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16482 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16483 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16485 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16486 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16487 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16488 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16489 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16492 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16493 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16494 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16496 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16497 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16498 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16500 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16501 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16502 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
16507 @node Example Setup
16508 @subsection Example Setup
16510 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
16511 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
16512 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
16515 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
16516 ;;; from your ISP's server.
16517 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
16519 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
16520 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
16521 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
16523 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
16524 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
16526 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
16530 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
16531 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
16534 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
16535 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
16536 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
16537 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
16538 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
16541 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
16542 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
16543 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
16544 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
16545 back all the killed groups.)
16547 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
16548 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
16549 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
16552 @node Batching Agents
16553 @subsection Batching Agents
16555 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
16556 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
16557 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
16561 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
16565 @node Agent Caveats
16566 @subsection Agent Caveats
16568 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
16569 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
16573 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
16578 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
16579 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
16585 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
16586 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
16593 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
16594 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
16595 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
16598 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
16599 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
16600 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
16601 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
16602 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
16604 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
16605 before generating the summary buffer.
16607 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
16608 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
16609 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
16611 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
16612 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
16613 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
16614 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
16617 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
16618 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
16619 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
16620 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
16621 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
16622 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
16623 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
16624 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
16625 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
16626 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
16627 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
16628 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
16629 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
16630 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
16631 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
16632 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
16633 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
16637 @node Summary Score Commands
16638 @section Summary Score Commands
16639 @cindex score commands
16641 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
16642 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
16643 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
16644 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
16645 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
16647 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
16648 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
16649 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
16650 score file the current one.
16652 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
16657 @kindex V s (Summary)
16658 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
16659 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
16662 @kindex V S (Summary)
16663 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
16664 Display the score of the current article
16665 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
16668 @kindex V t (Summary)
16669 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
16670 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
16671 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
16674 @kindex V R (Summary)
16675 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
16676 Run the current summary through the scoring process
16677 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
16678 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
16679 effect you're having.
16682 @kindex V c (Summary)
16683 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
16684 Make a different score file the current
16685 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
16688 @kindex V e (Summary)
16689 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
16690 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
16691 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
16695 @kindex V f (Summary)
16696 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
16697 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
16698 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
16701 @kindex V F (Summary)
16702 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16703 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
16704 after editing score files.
16707 @kindex V C (Summary)
16708 @findex gnus-score-customize
16709 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
16710 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
16714 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
16719 @kindex V m (Summary)
16720 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
16721 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
16722 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
16725 @kindex V x (Summary)
16726 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
16727 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
16728 expunge all articles below this score
16729 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
16732 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
16733 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
16736 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
16737 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
16741 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
16742 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
16744 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
16745 keys are available:
16749 Score on the author name.
16752 Score on the subject line.
16755 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
16758 Score on the @code{References} line.
16764 Score on the number of lines.
16767 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
16770 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
16771 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
16772 @file{ADAPT} files.)
16781 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
16787 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
16788 what headers you are scoring on.
16800 Substring matching.
16803 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
16832 Greater than number.
16837 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
16838 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
16839 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
16843 Temporary score entry.
16846 Permanent score entry.
16849 Immediately scoring.
16854 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
16855 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
16856 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
16857 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
16859 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
16860 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
16861 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
16862 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
16863 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
16865 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
16866 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
16867 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
16868 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
16869 current score file.
16871 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
16872 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
16873 pretend they are keymaps or not.
16876 @node Group Score Commands
16877 @section Group Score Commands
16878 @cindex group score commands
16880 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
16885 @kindex W f (Group)
16886 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
16887 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
16888 all the time. This command will flush the cache
16889 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
16893 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
16895 @findex gnus-batch-score
16896 @cindex batch scoring
16898 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
16902 @node Score Variables
16903 @section Score Variables
16904 @cindex score variables
16908 @item gnus-use-scoring
16909 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
16910 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
16911 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
16913 @item gnus-kill-killed
16914 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
16915 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
16916 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
16917 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
16918 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
16919 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
16920 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
16922 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
16923 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
16924 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
16925 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
16926 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
16928 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
16929 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
16930 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
16931 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
16933 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16934 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
16935 @cindex score cache
16936 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
16937 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
16938 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
16939 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
16940 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
16941 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
16944 @item gnus-save-score
16945 @vindex gnus-save-score
16946 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
16947 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
16948 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
16950 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
16951 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
16952 across group visits.
16954 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16955 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
16956 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
16957 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
16958 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
16959 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
16960 manually entered data.
16962 @item gnus-summary-default-score
16963 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
16964 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
16966 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
16967 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
16968 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
16969 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
16970 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
16971 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
16973 @item gnus-score-over-mark
16974 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
16975 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
16976 default. Default is @samp{+}.
16978 @item gnus-score-below-mark
16979 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
16980 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
16981 default. Default is @samp{-}.
16983 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16984 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
16985 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
16986 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
16988 Predefined functions available are:
16991 @item gnus-score-find-single
16992 @findex gnus-score-find-single
16993 Only apply the group's own score file.
16995 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
16996 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
16997 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
16998 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
16999 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17000 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17001 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17002 then a regexp match is done.
17004 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17005 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17007 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17008 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17009 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17010 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17012 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17013 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17014 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17015 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17016 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17020 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17021 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17022 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17023 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17024 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17025 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17026 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17029 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17030 overall score file, you could use the value
17032 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17033 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17036 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17037 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17038 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17039 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17040 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17042 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17043 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17044 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17045 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17046 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17047 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17048 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17049 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17051 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17052 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17053 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17055 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17056 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17057 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17058 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17059 threading---according to the current value of
17060 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17061 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17062 simplified in this manner.
17067 @node Score File Format
17068 @section Score File Format
17069 @cindex score file format
17071 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17072 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17073 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17075 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17079 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17081 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17083 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17085 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17090 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17094 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17095 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17096 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17097 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17101 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17102 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17104 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17105 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17106 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17108 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17113 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17114 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17115 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17116 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17117 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17118 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17119 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17120 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17121 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17122 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17123 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17124 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17125 to articles that matches these score entries.
17127 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17128 score entry has one to four elements.
17132 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17133 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17137 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17138 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17139 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17140 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17141 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17142 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17145 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17146 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17147 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17148 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17149 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17152 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17153 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17154 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17155 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17158 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17159 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17160 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17161 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17162 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17163 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17164 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17165 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17166 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17167 instead, if you feel like.
17170 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17171 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17173 These predicates are true if
17176 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17179 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17180 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17187 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17188 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17189 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17190 it's not. I think.)
17192 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17193 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17194 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17195 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17198 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17199 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17200 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17201 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17202 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17203 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17204 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17208 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17209 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17210 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17211 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17212 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17213 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17214 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17215 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17218 @item Head, Body, All
17219 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17223 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17224 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17225 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17226 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17227 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17228 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17229 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17233 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17234 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17235 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17236 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17237 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17238 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17239 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17240 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17241 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17242 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17243 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17247 @cindex Score File Atoms
17249 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17250 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17253 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17254 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17256 @item mark-and-expunge
17257 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17258 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17261 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
17262 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
17263 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
17264 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
17265 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
17268 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
17269 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
17272 @item exclude-files
17273 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
17274 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
17278 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
17279 ignored when handling global score files.
17282 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
17283 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
17284 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
17285 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
17288 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
17289 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
17290 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
17291 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
17293 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
17297 (mark-and-expunge -100)
17300 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
17301 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
17302 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
17303 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
17304 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
17306 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
17307 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
17308 scoring rules exist.
17311 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
17312 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
17313 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
17314 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
17315 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
17316 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
17317 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17318 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
17319 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
17320 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
17321 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
17325 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
17326 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
17327 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
17328 file for a number of groups.
17331 @cindex local variables
17332 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
17333 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
17334 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
17335 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
17336 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
17340 @node Score File Editing
17341 @section Score File Editing
17343 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
17344 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
17345 with a mode for that.
17347 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
17348 additional commands:
17353 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17354 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17355 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17356 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17359 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17360 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17361 Insert the current date in numerical format
17362 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17363 you were wondering.
17366 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17367 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17368 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17369 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17370 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17375 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17377 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17378 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17380 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17381 e} to begin editing score files.
17384 @node Adaptive Scoring
17385 @section Adaptive Scoring
17386 @cindex adaptive scoring
17388 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17389 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17390 stupidity, to be precise.
17392 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17393 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17394 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17395 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17396 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17397 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17398 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17399 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17400 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17402 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17403 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17404 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17405 might look something like this:
17408 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17409 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17410 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17411 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17412 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17413 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17414 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17415 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17416 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17417 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17418 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17419 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17422 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17423 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17424 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17425 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17426 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17427 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17430 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17431 will be applied to each article.
17433 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17434 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17435 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17436 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17438 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17439 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17440 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17441 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17443 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17444 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17445 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17446 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17448 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17449 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17450 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17451 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17452 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17453 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17455 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17456 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17457 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17458 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17459 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17460 aspirins afterwards.)
17462 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17463 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
17464 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
17466 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
17467 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
17468 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
17470 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
17471 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
17472 let you use different rules in different groups.
17474 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
17475 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
17476 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
17479 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
17480 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
17481 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
17482 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
17483 the length of the match is less than
17484 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
17485 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
17488 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17489 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
17490 headers. If you adapt on words, the
17491 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
17492 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
17495 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
17496 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
17497 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
17498 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
17499 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
17502 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
17503 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
17504 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
17505 score with 30 points.
17507 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
17508 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
17509 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
17510 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
17511 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
17513 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
17514 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
17515 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
17516 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
17517 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
17519 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
17520 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
17521 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
17522 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
17524 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
17525 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
17526 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
17527 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
17529 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
17530 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
17531 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
17532 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
17533 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
17535 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
17536 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
17537 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
17539 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
17540 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
17541 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
17542 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
17545 @node Home Score File
17546 @section Home Score File
17548 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
17549 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
17550 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
17551 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
17553 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
17554 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
17555 could perhaps use the same home score file.
17557 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
17558 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
17563 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
17567 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
17568 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
17572 A list. The elements in this list can be:
17576 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
17577 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
17580 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
17581 the home score file.
17584 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
17587 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
17592 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
17595 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17596 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
17599 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
17600 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
17602 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
17604 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17605 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
17608 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
17609 Other functions include
17612 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
17613 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
17614 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
17615 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
17619 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
17620 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
17621 their own home score files:
17624 (setq gnus-home-score-file
17625 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
17626 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
17627 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
17628 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
17631 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
17632 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
17633 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
17634 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
17635 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
17637 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
17638 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
17639 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
17640 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
17641 precedence over this variable.
17644 @node Followups To Yourself
17645 @section Followups To Yourself
17647 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
17648 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
17649 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
17650 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
17651 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
17652 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
17656 @item gnus-score-followup-article
17657 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
17658 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
17661 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
17662 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
17663 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
17667 @vindex message-sent-hook
17668 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
17669 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
17671 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
17675 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
17676 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
17680 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17681 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
17684 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
17685 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
17690 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
17694 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
17695 is system-dependent.
17698 @node Scoring On Other Headers
17699 @section Scoring On Other Headers
17700 @cindex scoring on other headers
17702 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
17703 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
17704 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
17705 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
17706 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
17708 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
17709 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
17710 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
17711 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
17712 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
17714 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17717 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
17718 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
17721 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
17722 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
17723 time if you have much mail.
17725 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
17726 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
17732 @section Scoring Tips
17733 @cindex scoring tips
17739 @cindex scoring crossposts
17740 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
17741 the @code{Xref} header.
17743 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
17746 @item Multiple crossposts
17747 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
17748 more than, say, 3 groups:
17751 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
17755 @item Matching on the body
17756 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
17757 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
17758 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
17759 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
17760 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
17761 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
17762 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
17765 @item Marking as read
17766 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
17767 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
17768 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
17772 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
17774 @item Negated character classes
17775 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
17776 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
17777 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
17781 @node Reverse Scoring
17782 @section Reverse Scoring
17783 @cindex reverse scoring
17785 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
17786 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
17787 like this in your score file:
17791 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
17796 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
17797 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
17800 @node Global Score Files
17801 @section Global Score Files
17802 @cindex global score files
17804 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
17805 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
17806 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
17808 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
17809 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
17810 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
17812 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
17813 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
17814 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
17815 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
17816 files are applicable to which group.
17818 To use the score file
17819 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
17820 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
17824 (setq gnus-global-score-files
17825 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
17826 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
17829 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
17831 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
17832 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
17833 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
17834 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
17836 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
17837 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
17839 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
17840 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
17841 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
17842 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
17843 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
17844 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
17846 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
17852 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
17854 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
17856 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
17858 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
17859 lowered out of existence.
17861 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
17862 articles completely.
17865 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
17866 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
17867 old articles for a long time.
17870 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
17871 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
17872 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
17873 holding our breath yet?
17877 @section Kill Files
17880 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
17881 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
17882 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
17884 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
17885 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
17886 files into score files.
17888 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
17889 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
17890 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
17891 that isn't a very good idea.
17893 Normal kill files look like this:
17896 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
17897 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
17901 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
17902 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
17904 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
17905 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
17908 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
17913 @kindex M-k (Summary)
17914 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
17915 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
17918 @kindex M-K (Summary)
17919 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
17920 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
17923 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
17928 @kindex M-k (Group)
17929 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
17930 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
17933 @kindex M-K (Group)
17934 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
17935 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
17938 Kill file variables:
17941 @item gnus-kill-file-name
17942 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
17943 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
17944 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
17945 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
17946 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
17947 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
17949 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17950 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
17951 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
17952 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
17955 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
17956 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
17957 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
17958 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
17959 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
17960 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
17961 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
17962 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
17963 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
17965 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17966 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
17967 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
17972 @node Converting Kill Files
17973 @section Converting Kill Files
17975 @cindex converting kill files
17977 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
17978 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
17979 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
17982 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
17983 You can fetch it from
17984 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
17986 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
17987 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
17988 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
17996 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
17997 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
17998 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
17999 news articles generated every day.
18001 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18002 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18003 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18004 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18005 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18006 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18007 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18008 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18011 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18012 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18015 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18016 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18017 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18018 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18022 @node Using GroupLens
18023 @subsection Using GroupLens
18025 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18027 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18028 better bit in town at the moment.
18030 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18034 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18035 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18036 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18037 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18039 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18040 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18041 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18042 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18044 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18045 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18046 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18050 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18051 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18052 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18053 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18054 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18055 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18058 @node Rating Articles
18059 @subsection Rating Articles
18061 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18062 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18063 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18064 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18067 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18072 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18073 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18074 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18077 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18078 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18079 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18080 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18081 threads in rec.humor.
18085 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18086 the score of the article you're reading.
18091 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18092 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18093 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18096 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18097 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18098 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18102 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18103 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18106 @node Displaying Predictions
18107 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18109 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18110 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18111 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18112 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18113 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18115 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18116 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18117 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18118 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18119 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18120 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18121 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18122 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18123 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18124 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18125 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18126 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18127 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18129 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18130 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18131 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18132 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18134 The following are valid values for that variable.
18137 @item prediction-spot
18138 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18141 @item confidence-interval
18142 A numeric confidence interval.
18144 @item prediction-bar
18145 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18147 @item confidence-bar
18148 Numerical confidence.
18150 @item confidence-spot
18151 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18153 @item prediction-num
18154 Plain-old numeric value.
18156 @item confidence-plus-minus
18157 Prediction +/- confidence.
18162 @node GroupLens Variables
18163 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18167 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18168 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18169 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18170 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18173 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18174 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18177 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18178 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18180 @item grouplens-score-offset
18181 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18182 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18185 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18186 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18187 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18192 @node Advanced Scoring
18193 @section Advanced Scoring
18195 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18196 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18197 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18198 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18199 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18201 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18205 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18206 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18207 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18211 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18212 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18214 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18215 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18216 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18217 non-@code{nil} value.
18219 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18220 operator, and various match operators.
18227 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18228 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18229 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18234 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18235 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18236 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18241 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18242 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18246 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18247 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18248 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18249 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18250 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18251 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18252 the ancestry you want to go.
18254 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18255 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18256 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18257 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18258 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18261 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
18262 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
18264 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
18265 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
18268 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
18269 when he's talking about Gnus:
18273 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18274 ("subject" "Gnus"))
18280 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
18284 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18291 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
18292 really don't want to read what he's written:
18296 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18297 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
18301 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
18302 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
18303 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
18310 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
18311 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
18312 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
18313 ("body" "white.*socks"))
18317 The possibilities are endless.
18320 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
18321 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
18323 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
18324 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
18325 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
18326 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
18327 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
18328 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
18329 @samp{subject}) first.
18331 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
18332 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
18343 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
18344 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
18350 ("subject" "Gnus")))
18357 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18358 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18363 @section Score Decays
18364 @cindex score decays
18367 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18368 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18369 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18370 use them in any sensible way.
18372 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18373 @findex gnus-decay-score
18374 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18375 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18376 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18377 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18378 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18379 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18380 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18381 definition of that function:
18384 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18386 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18387 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18390 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18392 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18394 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18397 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18398 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18399 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18400 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18404 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18407 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18410 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18414 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18415 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18416 the new score, which should be an integer.
18418 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18419 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18424 @include message.texi
18425 @chapter Emacs MIME
18426 @include emacs-mime.texi
18428 @include sieve.texi
18436 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18437 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18438 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18439 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18440 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18441 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18442 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18443 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18444 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18445 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18446 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18447 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18448 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18449 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
18450 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18451 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
18452 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18453 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18454 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18458 @node Process/Prefix
18459 @section Process/Prefix
18460 @cindex process/prefix convention
18462 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18463 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
18465 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
18466 command to be performed on.
18470 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
18471 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
18472 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
18473 with the current one.
18475 @vindex transient-mark-mode
18476 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
18477 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
18479 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
18480 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
18483 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
18484 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
18486 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
18489 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
18490 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
18491 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
18492 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
18494 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
18495 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
18496 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
18497 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
18498 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
18499 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
18500 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
18501 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
18503 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
18504 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
18505 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
18506 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
18507 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
18511 @section Interactive
18512 @cindex interaction
18516 @item gnus-novice-user
18517 @vindex gnus-novice-user
18518 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
18519 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
18520 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
18521 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
18524 @item gnus-expert-user
18525 @vindex gnus-expert-user
18526 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
18527 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
18528 matter how strange.
18530 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
18531 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
18532 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
18533 is @code{t} by default.
18535 @item gnus-interactive-exit
18536 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
18537 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18542 @node Symbolic Prefixes
18543 @section Symbolic Prefixes
18544 @cindex symbolic prefixes
18546 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
18547 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
18548 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
18549 rule of 900 to the current article.
18551 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
18552 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
18553 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
18554 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
18555 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
18556 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
18557 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
18559 @kindex M-i (Summary)
18560 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
18561 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
18562 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
18563 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
18564 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
18565 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
18566 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
18567 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
18569 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
18570 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
18571 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
18573 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
18577 @node Formatting Variables
18578 @section Formatting Variables
18579 @cindex formatting variables
18581 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
18582 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
18583 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
18584 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
18585 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
18588 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
18589 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
18590 lots of percentages everywhere.
18593 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
18594 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
18595 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
18596 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
18597 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
18598 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
18599 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
18600 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
18603 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
18604 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
18605 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
18606 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
18607 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
18608 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
18609 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
18610 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
18612 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
18613 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
18615 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
18616 @findex gnus-update-format
18617 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
18618 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
18619 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
18620 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
18624 @node Formatting Basics
18625 @subsection Formatting Basics
18627 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
18628 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
18629 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
18631 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
18632 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
18633 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
18634 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
18635 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
18638 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
18639 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
18640 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
18641 less than 4 characters wide.
18643 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
18644 @samp{%&user-date;}.
18647 @node Mode Line Formatting
18648 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
18650 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
18651 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
18652 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
18653 with the following two differences:
18658 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
18661 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
18662 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
18663 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
18664 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
18665 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
18666 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
18667 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
18672 @node Advanced Formatting
18673 @subsection Advanced Formatting
18675 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
18676 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
18677 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
18678 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
18680 These are the valid modifiers:
18685 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
18689 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
18694 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
18697 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
18702 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
18705 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
18708 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
18711 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
18717 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
18722 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
18723 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
18724 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
18725 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
18726 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
18727 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
18728 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
18730 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
18731 last operation, padding.
18733 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
18734 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
18735 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
18736 @xref{Compilation}.
18739 @node User-Defined Specs
18740 @subsection User-Defined Specs
18742 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
18743 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
18744 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
18745 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
18746 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
18747 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
18748 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
18749 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
18750 should protect against that.
18752 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
18753 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
18755 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
18756 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
18757 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
18758 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
18762 @node Formatting Fonts
18763 @subsection Formatting Fonts
18765 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
18766 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
18767 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
18768 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
18771 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
18772 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
18773 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
18774 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
18775 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
18776 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
18778 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
18779 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
18780 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
18781 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
18782 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
18783 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
18784 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
18785 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
18787 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
18790 ;; Create three face types.
18791 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
18792 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
18794 ;; We want the article count to be in
18795 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
18796 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
18797 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
18799 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
18800 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
18802 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
18803 (setq gnus-group-line-format
18804 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
18807 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
18808 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
18810 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
18811 mode-line variables.
18813 @node Positioning Point
18814 @subsection Positioning Point
18816 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
18817 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
18818 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
18820 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
18822 @findex gnus-goto-colon
18823 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
18824 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
18826 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
18827 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
18828 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
18833 @subsection Tabulation
18835 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
18836 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
18837 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
18838 about lining up the following text afterwards.
18840 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
18841 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
18843 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18844 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
18845 This is the soft tabulator.
18847 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
18848 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
18849 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
18852 @node Wide Characters
18853 @subsection Wide Characters
18855 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
18856 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
18857 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
18859 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
18860 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
18861 these coutries, that's not true.
18863 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
18864 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
18865 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
18866 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
18870 @node Window Layout
18871 @section Window Layout
18872 @cindex window layout
18874 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
18876 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
18877 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
18878 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
18879 @code{t} by default.
18881 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
18882 glitches. Use at your own peril.
18884 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
18885 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
18886 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
18889 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
18890 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
18891 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18895 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
18896 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
18897 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
18898 possible names is listed below.
18900 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
18901 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
18904 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
18908 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
18909 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
18910 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
18911 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
18912 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
18913 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
18914 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
18915 size spec per split.
18917 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
18918 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
18919 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
18920 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
18921 present) gets focus.
18923 Here's a more complicated example:
18926 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
18927 (summary 0.25 point)
18928 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
18932 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
18933 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
18934 occupy, not a percentage.
18936 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
18937 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
18938 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
18939 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
18940 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
18943 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
18946 (article (horizontal 1.0
18951 (summary 0.25 point)
18956 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
18957 @code{horizontal} thingie?
18959 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
18960 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
18961 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
18962 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
18963 the screen is to be given to this strip.
18965 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
18966 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
18967 lines from the splits.
18969 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
18973 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
18974 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
18975 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
18976 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
18977 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
18978 size = number | frame-params
18979 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
18982 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
18983 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
18984 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
18985 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
18987 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
18988 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
18989 @cindex window height
18990 @cindex window width
18991 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
18992 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
18993 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
18994 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
18995 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
18996 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
18998 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
18999 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19000 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19001 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19003 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19004 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19005 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19006 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19007 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19008 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19009 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19010 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19011 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19012 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19013 configuration list.
19016 (gnus-configure-frame
19020 (article 0.3 point))
19028 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19029 @code{frame} split:
19032 (gnus-configure-frame
19035 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19037 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19038 (user-position . t)
19039 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19044 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19045 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19046 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19047 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19048 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19049 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19050 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19051 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19053 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19054 be found in its default value.
19056 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19057 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19058 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19062 (message (horizontal 1.0
19063 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19065 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19070 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19071 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19072 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19077 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19078 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19079 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19080 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19081 (name . "Message"))
19082 (message 1.0 point))))
19085 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19086 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19087 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19088 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19089 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19092 (gnus-add-configuration
19093 '(article (vertical 1.0
19095 (summary .25 point)
19099 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19100 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19101 Gnus has been loaded.
19103 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19104 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19105 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19106 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19107 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19109 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19110 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19111 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19114 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19118 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19119 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19134 (gnus-add-configuration
19137 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19139 (summary 0.16 point)
19142 (gnus-add-configuration
19145 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19146 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19152 @node Faces and Fonts
19153 @section Faces and Fonts
19158 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19159 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19160 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19165 @section Compilation
19166 @cindex compilation
19167 @cindex byte-compilation
19169 @findex gnus-compile
19171 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19172 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19173 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
19174 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19175 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19176 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19179 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19180 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19181 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19182 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
19183 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
19184 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
19185 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
19189 @section Mode Lines
19192 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19193 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19194 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19195 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19196 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19197 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19198 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19201 @cindex display-time
19203 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19204 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19205 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19206 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19207 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19208 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19209 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19210 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19213 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19215 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19216 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19218 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19219 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19220 (length display-time-string)))))
19223 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19224 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19225 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19226 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19227 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19230 @node Highlighting and Menus
19231 @section Highlighting and Menus
19233 @cindex highlighting
19236 @vindex gnus-visual
19237 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19238 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19239 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19242 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19243 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19246 @item group-highlight
19247 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19248 @item summary-highlight
19249 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19250 @item article-highlight
19251 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19253 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19255 Create menus in the group buffer.
19257 Create menus in the summary buffers.
19259 Create menus in the article buffer.
19261 Create menus in the browse buffer.
19263 Create menus in the server buffer.
19265 Create menus in the score buffers.
19267 Create menus in all buffers.
19270 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
19271 buffers, you could say something like:
19274 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
19277 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
19280 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
19283 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
19284 in all Gnus buffers.
19286 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
19289 @item gnus-mouse-face
19290 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
19291 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
19292 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
19296 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
19300 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
19301 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
19302 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
19304 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
19305 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
19306 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
19308 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
19309 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
19310 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
19312 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
19313 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
19314 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
19316 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
19317 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
19318 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
19320 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
19321 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
19322 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
19333 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
19334 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
19335 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
19336 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
19337 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
19341 @vindex gnus-carpal
19342 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
19343 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
19344 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
19349 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19350 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19351 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
19353 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
19354 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
19355 Face used on buttons.
19357 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19358 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19359 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19361 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19362 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19363 Buttons in the group buffer.
19365 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19366 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19367 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19369 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19370 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19371 Buttons in the server buffer.
19373 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19374 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19375 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19378 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19379 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19380 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19388 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19389 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19390 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19391 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19392 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19394 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19395 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19396 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19398 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19399 been idle for thirty minutes:
19402 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19405 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19409 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19412 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19413 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19414 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19416 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19417 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19418 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19419 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19421 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19422 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19423 @var{idle} minutes.
19425 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19426 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19429 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19430 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19431 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19433 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19434 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19435 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19436 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19438 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19439 your @file{.gnus} file:
19441 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19443 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19446 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19447 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19448 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19449 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19450 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19451 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19452 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
19453 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
19454 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
19455 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
19456 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
19458 @findex gnus-demon-init
19459 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
19460 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
19461 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
19462 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
19463 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
19465 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
19466 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
19467 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
19476 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
19477 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
19479 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
19480 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
19481 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
19482 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
19485 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
19486 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
19487 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
19488 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
19490 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
19491 this will make spam disappear.
19493 There are some variables to customize, of course:
19496 @item gnus-use-nocem
19497 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
19498 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
19501 @item gnus-nocem-groups
19502 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
19503 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
19504 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
19505 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
19507 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
19508 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
19509 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
19510 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
19511 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
19512 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
19514 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
19515 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
19517 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
19518 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
19519 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
19520 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
19521 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
19522 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
19523 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
19524 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
19525 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
19526 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
19528 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
19529 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
19532 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
19535 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
19536 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
19539 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
19542 The specs are applied left-to-right.
19545 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
19546 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
19548 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
19549 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
19550 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
19551 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
19553 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
19554 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
19557 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
19559 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
19567 This might be dangerous, though.
19569 @item gnus-nocem-directory
19570 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
19571 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
19572 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
19574 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19575 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
19576 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
19577 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
19578 might then see old spam.
19580 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
19581 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
19582 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
19583 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
19584 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
19587 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19588 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
19589 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
19590 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
19594 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
19595 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
19596 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
19597 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
19604 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
19605 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
19606 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
19608 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
19609 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
19610 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
19611 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
19612 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
19613 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
19614 @code{undo} function.
19616 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
19617 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
19618 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
19619 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
19620 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
19621 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
19622 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
19623 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
19624 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
19625 never be totally undoable.
19627 @findex gnus-undo-mode
19628 @vindex gnus-use-undo
19630 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
19631 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
19632 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
19633 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
19637 @node Predicate Specifiers
19638 @section Predicate Specifiers
19639 @cindex predicate specifiers
19641 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
19642 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
19643 to type all that much.
19645 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
19650 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
19651 gnus-article-unread-p)
19654 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
19655 functions all take one parameter.
19657 @findex gnus-make-predicate
19658 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
19659 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
19660 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
19665 @section Moderation
19668 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
19669 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
19670 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
19673 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
19677 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
19680 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
19682 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
19687 You split your incoming mail by matching on
19688 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
19689 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
19692 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
19693 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
19696 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
19697 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
19701 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
19704 (setq gnus-moderated-list
19705 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
19709 @node Image Enhancements
19710 @section Image Enhancements
19712 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
19713 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
19716 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
19717 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
19718 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
19719 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
19720 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
19733 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
19734 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
19735 over your shoulder as you read news.
19738 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
19739 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
19740 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
19741 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
19742 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
19747 @subsubsection Picon Basics
19749 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
19758 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
19759 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
19760 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
19761 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
19762 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
19763 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
19764 @code{GIF} formats.
19767 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19768 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
19769 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
19770 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
19771 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
19773 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19774 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
19775 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
19776 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
19777 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
19778 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19780 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
19781 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
19784 @node Picon Requirements
19785 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
19787 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
19788 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
19789 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
19790 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
19792 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19793 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
19794 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
19795 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
19796 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
19797 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19800 @subsubsection Easy Picons
19802 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
19803 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
19806 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
19807 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
19810 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
19811 containing the Picons databases.
19813 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
19816 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19817 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
19822 @subsubsection Hard Picons
19830 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
19831 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
19832 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
19833 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
19834 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
19839 @item gnus-picons-database
19840 @vindex gnus-picons-database
19841 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
19842 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
19843 subdirectories. This is only useful if
19844 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
19845 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
19847 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19848 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
19849 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
19850 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
19851 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
19852 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
19853 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
19855 @item gnus-picons-display-where
19856 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19857 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
19858 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
19859 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
19860 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
19861 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
19862 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
19864 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19865 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
19866 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
19871 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
19872 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
19874 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
19875 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
19878 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
19880 @item gnus-article-display-picons
19881 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
19882 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
19883 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
19885 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19886 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
19887 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
19888 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
19894 @node Picon Useless Configuration
19895 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
19903 The following variables offer further control over how things are
19904 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
19905 don't need to worry about.
19909 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
19910 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
19911 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19912 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
19914 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
19915 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
19916 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
19917 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
19919 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
19920 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
19921 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
19922 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
19923 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
19925 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19926 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
19927 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
19928 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
19929 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
19930 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
19931 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
19932 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19934 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19935 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
19936 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
19937 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
19938 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
19940 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19941 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
19942 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
19943 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
19944 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
19945 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
19946 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
19948 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19949 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
19950 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
19951 Defaults to @code{nil}.
19953 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
19954 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
19955 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
19956 Defaults to @code{t}.
19958 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19959 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
19960 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
19961 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
19963 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
19964 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
19965 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
19967 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19968 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
19969 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
19970 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
19972 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
19973 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
19975 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19976 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
19977 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
19978 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
19979 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
19980 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
19981 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
19982 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
19993 @subsection Smileys
19998 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20003 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20004 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20006 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20007 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20010 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20013 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20014 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20015 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20016 text and maps that to file names.
20018 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20019 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20020 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20021 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20022 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20023 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20025 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20026 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20028 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20029 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20030 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20032 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20033 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20037 @item smiley-data-directory
20038 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20039 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20041 @item smiley-flesh-color
20042 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20043 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20045 @item smiley-features-color
20046 @vindex smiley-features-color
20047 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20049 @item smiley-tongue-color
20050 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20051 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20053 @item smiley-circle-color
20054 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20055 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20057 @item smiley-mouse-face
20058 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20059 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20068 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20069 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20070 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20074 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20075 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20076 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20077 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20085 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20086 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20087 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20088 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20090 The variable that controls this is the
20091 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20092 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20093 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20094 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20095 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20097 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20098 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20099 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20100 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20103 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20104 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20105 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20106 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20107 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20108 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20109 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20110 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20112 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20115 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20116 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20118 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20119 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20120 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20121 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20122 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20123 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20125 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a file as the parameter, and then
20126 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20127 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20129 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20130 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20133 (setq message-required-news-headers
20134 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20135 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20138 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20141 (setq message-required-news-headers
20142 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20143 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20144 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20145 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20150 @subsection Toolbar
20160 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20161 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20162 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20163 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20164 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20166 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20167 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20168 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20170 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20171 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20172 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20174 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20175 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20176 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20182 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20185 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20186 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20187 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20188 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20189 unusual directory structure.
20191 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20192 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20193 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20194 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20196 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20197 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20198 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20199 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20200 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20201 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20203 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20204 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20205 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20219 @node Fuzzy Matching
20220 @section Fuzzy Matching
20221 @cindex fuzzy matching
20223 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20224 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20226 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
20227 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
20228 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
20230 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
20231 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
20232 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
20233 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
20234 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
20237 @node Thwarting Email Spam
20238 @section Thwarting Email Spam
20242 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20244 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
20245 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
20246 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
20247 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
20248 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
20249 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
20250 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
20251 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
20254 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
20255 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
20256 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
20257 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
20258 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
20259 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
20263 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
20264 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
20266 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
20267 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
20268 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
20269 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
20270 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
20271 part of the mail address.)
20274 (setq message-default-news-headers
20275 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
20278 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
20279 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20284 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
20285 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
20286 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
20292 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
20293 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
20294 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
20295 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
20297 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
20298 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
20299 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
20300 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
20301 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
20302 your fancy split rule in this way:
20307 (to "larsi" "misc")
20311 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
20312 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
20313 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
20314 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
20315 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
20317 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
20318 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
20319 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
20320 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
20321 cosmic balance somewhat.
20323 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
20324 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
20325 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
20326 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
20329 @node Various Various
20330 @section Various Various
20336 @item gnus-home-directory
20337 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
20338 defaults to @file{~/}.
20340 @item gnus-directory
20341 @vindex gnus-directory
20342 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
20343 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
20344 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
20346 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
20347 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
20348 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
20349 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
20351 @item gnus-default-directory
20352 @vindex gnus-default-directory
20353 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
20354 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
20355 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
20356 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
20357 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
20358 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
20361 @vindex gnus-verbose
20362 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
20363 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
20364 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
20365 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
20366 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
20368 @item gnus-verbose-backends
20369 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
20370 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
20371 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
20373 @item nnheader-max-head-length
20374 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
20375 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
20376 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
20377 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
20378 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
20379 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
20380 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
20381 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
20382 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
20384 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
20385 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
20386 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
20387 read when doing the operation described above.
20389 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20390 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20392 @cindex invalid characters in file names
20393 @cindex characters in file names
20394 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
20395 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
20396 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
20399 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
20403 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
20404 Windows (phooey) systems.
20406 @item gnus-hidden-properties
20407 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
20408 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
20409 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
20410 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
20412 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
20413 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
20414 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
20415 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
20416 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
20418 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
20419 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
20420 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
20422 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20423 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
20425 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
20426 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
20427 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
20428 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
20431 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
20439 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
20440 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
20442 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
20444 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
20450 Not because of victories @*
20453 but for the common sunshine,@*
20455 the largess of the spring.
20459 but for the day's work done@*
20460 as well as I was able;@*
20461 not for a seat upon the dais@*
20462 but at the common table.@*
20467 @chapter Appendices
20470 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
20471 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
20472 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
20473 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
20474 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
20475 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
20476 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
20477 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
20478 * Frequently Asked Questions::
20485 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
20487 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
20488 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
20489 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
20490 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
20491 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}.
20498 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
20499 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
20501 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
20502 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
20503 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
20504 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
20505 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
20507 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
20508 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
20509 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
20510 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
20511 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
20512 appropriate name, don't you think?)
20514 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
20515 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
20516 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
20517 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
20520 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
20521 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
20522 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
20523 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
20524 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
20525 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
20526 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
20527 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
20528 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
20532 @node Gnus Versions
20533 @subsection Gnus Versions
20535 @cindex September Gnus
20537 @cindex Quassia Gnus
20538 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
20542 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
20543 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
20544 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
20546 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
20547 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
20549 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
20550 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
20552 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
20553 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
20555 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
20556 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
20559 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
20561 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
20562 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
20563 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
20564 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
20565 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
20566 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
20569 @node Other Gnus Versions
20570 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
20573 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
20574 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
20575 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
20576 @sc{mime} capabilities.
20578 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
20579 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
20580 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
20581 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
20588 What's the point of Gnus?
20590 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
20591 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
20592 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
20593 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
20594 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
20595 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
20596 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
20597 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
20598 keep track of millions of people who post?
20600 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
20601 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
20602 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
20603 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
20604 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
20605 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
20606 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
20607 every one of you to explore and invent.
20609 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
20610 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
20613 @node Compatibility
20614 @subsection Compatibility
20616 @cindex compatibility
20617 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
20618 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
20619 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
20624 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
20628 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
20631 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
20634 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
20635 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
20636 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
20637 important variables have their values copied into their global
20638 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
20639 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
20641 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
20642 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
20643 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
20644 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
20645 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
20649 @cindex highlighting
20650 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
20651 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
20652 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
20653 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
20654 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
20655 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
20658 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
20659 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
20660 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
20661 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
20663 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
20664 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
20665 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
20666 to stop doing it the old way.
20668 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
20670 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
20672 @cindex reporting bugs
20674 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
20675 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
20676 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
20678 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
20679 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
20680 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
20681 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
20686 @subsection Conformity
20688 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
20689 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
20697 There are no known breaches of this standard.
20701 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
20703 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
20704 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
20705 We do have some breaches to this one.
20711 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
20712 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
20713 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
20714 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
20715 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
20720 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
20721 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
20722 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
20723 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
20725 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
20727 All the various MIME RFCs are supported.
20729 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2289
20730 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
20732 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
20735 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
20736 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
20737 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-MIME aware PGP
20738 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
20739 decoding (verification and decryption).
20741 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
20742 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
20743 1991) describes the MIME-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
20744 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
20746 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
20747 RFC 2633 describes the S/MIME format.
20749 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
20750 RFC 1730 is IMAP version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (IMAP 4
20751 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for IMAP. RFC
20752 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for IMAP. RFC 2359
20753 describes a IMAP protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
20754 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with IMAP. RFC 1731 describes the
20755 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for IMAP.
20759 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
20760 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
20765 @subsection Emacsen
20771 Gnus should work on :
20779 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
20783 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
20784 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
20787 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
20788 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
20789 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
20793 @node Gnus Development
20794 @subsection Gnus Development
20796 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
20797 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
20798 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
20799 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
20800 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
20801 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
20802 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
20803 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
20805 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
20806 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
20807 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
20808 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
20809 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
20812 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
20813 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
20814 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
20815 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
20816 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
20818 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
20819 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
20820 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
20821 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
20822 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
20823 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
20824 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
20825 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
20826 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
20827 can't be assumed to do so.
20832 @subsection Contributors
20833 @cindex contributors
20835 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
20836 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
20837 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
20838 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
20839 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
20840 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
20841 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
20842 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
20843 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
20844 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
20846 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
20852 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
20855 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
20856 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
20857 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
20858 functionality and stuff.
20861 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
20862 well as numerous other things).
20865 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
20868 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
20871 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
20874 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
20877 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
20878 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
20881 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
20884 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
20885 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
20888 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
20891 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
20894 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
20897 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
20900 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
20901 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
20904 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
20907 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
20910 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
20913 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
20917 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
20920 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
20923 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
20926 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
20927 well as autoconf support.
20931 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
20932 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
20934 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
20943 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
20947 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
20957 Alexei V. Barantsev,
20972 Massimo Campostrini,
20977 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
20978 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
20982 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
20985 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
20991 Michael Welsh Duggan,
20996 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
21000 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
21008 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
21010 Michelangelo Grigni,
21014 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
21016 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
21018 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
21025 François Felix Ingrand,
21026 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
21027 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
21029 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
21040 Peter Skov Knudsen,
21041 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
21043 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
21044 Thor Kristoffersen,
21047 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
21065 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
21066 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
21073 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
21078 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
21082 John McClary Prevost,
21088 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
21093 Christian von Roques,
21096 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
21103 Philippe Schnoebelen,
21105 Randal L. Schwartz,
21119 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
21124 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
21140 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
21145 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
21146 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
21147 (550kB and counting).
21149 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
21152 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
21153 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
21157 @subsection New Features
21158 @cindex new features
21161 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
21162 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
21163 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
21164 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
21165 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
21168 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
21169 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
21170 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
21173 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
21175 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
21180 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
21181 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
21184 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
21185 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
21188 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
21191 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
21192 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
21193 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
21196 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
21197 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
21198 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
21199 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21202 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
21203 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21206 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
21207 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
21208 (@pxref{The Active File}).
21211 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
21212 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
21215 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
21216 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
21217 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21220 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
21221 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
21222 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
21225 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
21226 the @file{.emacs} file.
21229 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
21230 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
21233 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
21234 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
21237 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
21238 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21241 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
21242 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
21245 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
21246 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21249 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
21252 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
21253 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
21256 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
21257 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
21260 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
21261 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
21264 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
21267 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
21268 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21271 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
21275 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
21279 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
21280 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
21283 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
21289 @node September Gnus
21290 @subsubsection September Gnus
21294 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
21298 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
21303 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
21304 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
21308 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
21309 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
21313 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
21317 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
21318 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
21321 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
21325 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
21328 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
21331 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
21334 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
21338 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
21339 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
21342 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
21346 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
21350 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
21354 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
21358 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
21361 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
21362 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
21365 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
21369 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
21370 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
21373 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
21376 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
21377 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
21378 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21381 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
21385 The Gnus cache is much faster.
21388 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
21392 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
21393 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
21396 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
21397 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
21400 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
21401 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21404 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
21405 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
21406 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
21409 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
21410 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
21413 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
21416 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21419 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
21422 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
21425 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
21426 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
21429 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
21433 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
21436 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
21441 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
21444 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
21448 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21451 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
21455 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
21458 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
21461 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
21462 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21465 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
21466 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
21470 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
21471 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
21474 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
21478 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
21479 buffer to allow easier treatment.
21482 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
21485 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
21489 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
21493 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
21494 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
21497 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
21501 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
21502 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
21505 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
21506 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21509 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
21513 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
21516 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
21519 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
21525 @subsubsection Red Gnus
21527 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
21531 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
21538 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
21541 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
21542 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21545 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
21546 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
21550 Article washing status can be displayed in the
21551 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
21554 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
21557 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
21558 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
21561 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
21565 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
21566 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
21570 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
21571 Server Internals}).
21574 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
21578 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
21581 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
21582 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
21585 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
21586 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
21587 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
21590 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
21591 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21594 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
21595 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
21598 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
21602 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
21603 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21606 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
21607 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21610 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
21614 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
21617 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
21621 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
21622 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
21625 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
21626 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
21629 A new command for reading collections of documents
21630 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
21631 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
21634 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
21638 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
21639 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
21642 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
21643 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
21644 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
21647 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
21648 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
21652 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
21656 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
21660 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
21665 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
21669 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
21673 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
21674 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
21677 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
21683 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
21685 New features in Gnus 5.6:
21690 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
21691 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
21692 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
21695 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
21696 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
21697 group, which is created automatically.
21700 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
21704 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
21707 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
21708 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
21711 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
21715 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
21718 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
21719 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
21722 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
21725 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
21726 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
21729 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
21730 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
21733 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
21734 control over simplification.
21737 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
21740 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
21744 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
21747 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
21750 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
21751 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
21752 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
21755 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
21756 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
21759 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
21763 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
21764 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
21767 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
21768 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
21771 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
21775 A history of where mails have been split is available.
21778 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
21781 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
21782 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
21785 A new function for citing in Message has been
21786 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
21789 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
21792 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
21796 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
21797 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
21800 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
21801 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
21804 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
21807 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
21811 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
21812 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
21814 New features in Gnus 5.8:
21819 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
21820 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
21822 If you used procmail like in
21825 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
21826 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
21827 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
21828 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
21831 this now has changed to
21835 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
21839 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
21840 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
21843 Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
21844 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
21847 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
21848 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
21851 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
21852 called to position point.
21855 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
21856 summary buffers and NOV files.
21859 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
21860 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
21863 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
21864 subtly different manner.
21867 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
21868 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
21869 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
21872 Gnus can now read IMAP mail via @code{nnimap}.
21880 @section The Manual
21884 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
21885 either @code{texi2dvi}
21887 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
21888 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
21890 to get what you hold in your hands now.
21892 The following conventions have been used:
21897 This is a @samp{string}
21900 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
21903 This is a @file{file}
21906 This is a @code{symbol}
21910 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
21914 (setq flargnoze "yes")
21917 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
21920 (setq flumphel 'yes)
21923 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
21924 ever get them confused.
21928 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
21929 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
21930 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
21931 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
21932 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
21933 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
21934 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
21940 @node On Writing Manuals
21941 @section On Writing Manuals
21943 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
21944 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
21945 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
21946 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
21947 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
21948 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
21951 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
21952 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
21953 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
21956 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
21957 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
21962 @section Terminology
21964 @cindex terminology
21969 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
21970 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
21971 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
21972 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
21973 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
21977 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
21978 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
21979 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
21980 not posting, and replying is not following up.
21984 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
21988 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
21993 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
21994 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
21995 is all done by the back ends.
21999 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
22000 default, way of getting news.
22004 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
22005 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
22010 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
22011 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
22015 A message that has been posted as news.
22018 @cindex mail message
22019 A message that has been mailed.
22023 A mail message or news article
22027 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
22032 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
22037 A line from the head of an article.
22041 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
22042 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
22046 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
22047 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
22048 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
22049 normal @sc{head} format.
22053 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
22054 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
22055 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
22056 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
22057 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
22058 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
22060 @item killed groups
22061 @cindex killed groups
22062 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
22063 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
22065 @item zombie groups
22066 @cindex zombie groups
22067 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
22070 @cindex active file
22071 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
22072 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
22073 is rather large, as you might surmise.
22076 @cindex bogus groups
22077 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
22078 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
22079 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
22082 @cindex activating groups
22083 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
22084 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
22085 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
22089 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
22091 @item select method
22092 @cindex select method
22093 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
22096 @item virtual server
22097 @cindex virtual server
22098 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
22099 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
22100 whole is a virtual server.
22104 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
22105 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
22108 @item ephemeral groups
22109 @cindex ephemeral groups
22110 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
22111 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
22112 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
22115 @cindex solid groups
22116 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
22117 group buffer are solid groups.
22119 @item sparse articles
22120 @cindex sparse articles
22121 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
22122 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
22126 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
22127 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
22131 @cindex thread root
22132 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
22133 articles in the thread.
22137 An article that has responses.
22141 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
22145 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
22146 specified by RFC 1153.
22152 @node Customization
22153 @section Customization
22154 @cindex general customization
22156 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
22157 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
22158 for some quite common situations.
22161 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
22162 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
22163 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
22164 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
22168 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
22169 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
22171 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
22172 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
22173 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
22177 @item gnus-read-active-file
22178 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
22179 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
22180 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22181 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
22182 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
22184 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
22185 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
22186 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
22187 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
22191 @node Slow Terminal Connection
22192 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
22194 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
22195 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
22196 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
22200 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
22201 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
22202 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
22203 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
22204 horizontal and vertical recentering.
22206 @item gnus-visible-headers
22207 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
22208 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
22209 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
22210 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
22212 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
22214 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
22215 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
22216 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
22219 @item gnus-use-full-window
22220 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
22221 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
22222 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
22223 want to read them anyway.
22225 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
22226 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
22229 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
22230 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
22231 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
22236 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
22237 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
22238 gnus-article-unseen-p))
22241 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
22242 unread, but you get my drift.)
22245 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
22246 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
22247 lines, which might save some time.
22251 @node Little Disk Space
22252 @subsection Little Disk Space
22255 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
22256 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
22260 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
22261 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
22262 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22263 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22266 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
22267 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
22268 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22269 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22272 @item gnus-save-killed-list
22273 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
22274 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
22275 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
22276 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
22282 @subsection Slow Machine
22283 @cindex slow machine
22285 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
22286 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
22288 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22289 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
22291 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
22292 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
22293 summary buffer faster.
22297 @node Troubleshooting
22298 @section Troubleshooting
22299 @cindex troubleshooting
22301 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
22309 Make sure your computer is switched on.
22312 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
22313 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
22317 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
22318 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
22319 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
22320 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
22323 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
22327 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
22328 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
22329 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
22330 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
22331 something like that.
22334 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
22337 @cindex reporting bugs
22339 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
22341 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
22342 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
22343 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
22344 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
22346 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
22347 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
22348 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
22349 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
22352 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
22353 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
22354 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
22355 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
22356 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
22357 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
22359 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
22360 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
22361 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
22365 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
22366 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
22368 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
22369 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
22371 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
22372 @cindex ding mailing list
22373 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
22374 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
22378 @node Gnus Reference Guide
22379 @section Gnus Reference Guide
22381 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
22382 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
22383 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
22384 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
22387 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
22388 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
22389 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
22390 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
22391 and general methods of operation.
22394 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
22395 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
22396 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
22397 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
22398 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
22399 * Group Info:: The group info format.
22400 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
22401 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
22402 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
22406 @node Gnus Utility Functions
22407 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
22408 @cindex Gnus utility functions
22409 @cindex utility functions
22411 @cindex internal variables
22413 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
22414 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
22415 Below is a list of the most common ones.
22419 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
22420 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
22421 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
22423 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
22424 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
22425 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
22427 @item gnus-group-real-name
22428 @findex gnus-group-real-name
22429 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
22432 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
22433 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
22434 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
22435 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
22437 @item gnus-get-info
22438 @findex gnus-get-info
22439 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
22441 @item gnus-group-unread
22442 @findex gnus-group-unread
22443 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
22447 @findex gnus-active
22448 The active entry for @var{group}.
22450 @item gnus-set-active
22451 @findex gnus-set-active
22452 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
22454 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22455 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
22456 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
22459 @item gnus-continuum-version
22460 @findex gnus-continuum-version
22461 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
22462 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
22465 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
22466 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
22467 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
22469 @item gnus-news-group-p
22470 @findex gnus-news-group-p
22471 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
22473 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22474 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
22475 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
22477 @item gnus-server-to-method
22478 @findex gnus-server-to-method
22479 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
22481 @item gnus-server-equal
22482 @findex gnus-server-equal
22483 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
22485 @item gnus-group-native-p
22486 @findex gnus-group-native-p
22487 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
22489 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
22490 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
22491 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
22493 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
22494 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
22495 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
22497 @item group-group-find-parameter
22498 @findex group-group-find-parameter
22499 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
22500 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
22502 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
22503 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
22504 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
22506 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
22507 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
22508 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
22510 @item gnus-check-backend-function
22511 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
22512 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
22513 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
22516 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
22520 @item gnus-read-method
22521 @findex gnus-read-method
22522 Prompts the user for a select method.
22527 @node Back End Interface
22528 @subsection Back End Interface
22530 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
22531 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
22532 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
22533 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
22534 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
22535 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
22537 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
22538 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
22539 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
22540 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
22541 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
22542 been opened, the function should fail.
22544 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
22545 name. Take this example:
22549 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
22550 (nntp-port-number 4324))
22553 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
22554 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
22556 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
22557 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
22558 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
22560 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
22561 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
22562 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
22564 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
22565 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
22566 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
22567 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
22568 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
22569 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
22572 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
22573 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
22574 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
22575 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
22578 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
22579 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
22580 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
22581 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
22582 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
22583 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
22584 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
22585 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
22586 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
22587 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
22589 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
22590 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
22591 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
22592 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
22593 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
22594 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
22595 of numbers as long as possible.
22597 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
22600 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
22603 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
22604 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
22605 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
22606 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
22607 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
22608 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
22612 @node Required Back End Functions
22613 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
22617 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
22619 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
22620 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
22621 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
22622 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
22624 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
22625 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
22626 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
22627 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
22629 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
22630 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
22631 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
22632 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
22633 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
22634 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
22635 number, do maximum fetches.
22637 Here's an example HEAD:
22640 221 1056 Article retrieved.
22641 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
22642 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
22643 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
22644 Subject: Re: Something very droll
22645 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
22646 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
22648 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
22649 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
22650 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
22654 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
22655 these in the data buffer.
22657 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
22661 head = error / valid-head
22662 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
22663 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
22664 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
22665 header = <text> eol
22668 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
22669 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
22673 nov-buffer = *nov-line
22674 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
22675 field = <text except TAB>
22678 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
22682 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
22684 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
22685 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
22687 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
22688 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
22689 server. In fact, it should do so.
22691 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
22692 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
22695 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
22697 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
22698 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
22701 There should be no data returned.
22704 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
22706 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
22707 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
22708 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
22709 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
22711 There should be no data returned.
22714 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
22716 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
22717 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
22718 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
22719 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
22721 There should be no data returned.
22724 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
22726 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
22728 There should be no data returned.
22731 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
22733 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
22734 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
22735 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
22736 it would be nice if that were possible.
22738 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
22739 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
22740 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
22741 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
22742 into its article buffer.
22744 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
22745 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
22746 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
22747 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
22748 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
22749 on successful article retrieval.
22752 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
22754 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
22755 making @var{group} the current group.
22757 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
22760 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
22763 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
22766 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
22767 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
22768 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
22769 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
22770 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
22771 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
22772 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
22773 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
22776 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
22777 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
22778 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
22782 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22784 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
22785 a no-op on most back ends.
22787 There should be no data returned.
22790 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
22792 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
22795 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
22798 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
22799 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
22802 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
22803 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
22806 active-file = *active-line
22807 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
22809 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
22812 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
22813 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
22814 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
22817 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
22819 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
22820 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
22821 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
22822 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
22823 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
22824 clear if the posting could not be completed.
22826 There should be no result data from this function.
22831 @node Optional Back End Functions
22832 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
22836 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
22838 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
22839 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
22840 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
22842 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
22843 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
22844 former is in the same format as the data from
22845 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
22846 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
22849 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
22853 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
22855 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
22856 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
22857 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
22858 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
22859 should return the (altered) group info.
22861 There should be no result data from this function.
22864 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
22866 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
22867 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
22868 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
22869 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
22870 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
22871 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
22872 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
22873 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
22875 There should be no result data from this function.
22878 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
22880 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
22881 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
22882 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
22883 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
22884 propagate the mark information to the server.
22886 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
22889 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
22892 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
22893 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
22894 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
22895 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
22896 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
22897 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
22898 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
22899 possible, not limit itself to these.
22901 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
22902 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
22903 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
22904 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
22906 An example action list:
22909 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
22910 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
22911 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
22914 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
22915 mark on (currently not used for anything).
22917 There should be no result data from this function.
22919 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
22921 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
22922 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
22923 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
22924 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
22925 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
22927 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
22928 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
22929 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
22932 There should be no result data from this function.
22935 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
22937 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
22938 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
22939 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
22940 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
22941 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
22942 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
22943 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
22945 There should be no result data from this function.
22948 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
22950 The result data from this function should be a description of
22954 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
22956 description = <text>
22959 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
22961 The result data from this function should be the description of all
22962 groups available on the server.
22965 description-buffer = *description-line
22969 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
22971 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
22972 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
22973 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
22974 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
22975 in the active buffer format.
22977 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
22978 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
22979 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
22980 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
22981 many groups, so nnml and the like are probably safe. But for back ends
22982 like nntp, where the groups have been created by the server, it is quite
22983 likely that there can be many groups.
22986 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
22988 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
22990 There should be no return data.
22993 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
22995 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
22996 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
22997 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
22998 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
22999 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
23002 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
23005 There should be no result data returned.
23008 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
23011 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
23012 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
23014 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
23015 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
23016 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
23017 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
23018 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
23019 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
23021 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
23022 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
23025 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23026 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23028 There should be no data returned.
23031 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
23033 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
23034 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
23035 this function in short order.
23037 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23038 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23040 There should be no data returned.
23043 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
23045 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
23046 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
23048 There should be no data returned.
23051 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
23053 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
23054 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
23055 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
23057 There should be no data returned.
23060 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
23062 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
23063 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
23065 There should be no data returned.
23070 @node Error Messaging
23071 @subsubsection Error Messaging
23073 @findex nnheader-report
23074 @findex nnheader-get-report
23075 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
23076 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
23077 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
23078 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
23079 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
23080 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
23083 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
23085 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
23088 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
23089 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
23090 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
23091 takes one argument---the server symbol.
23093 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
23094 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
23095 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
23098 @node Writing New Back Ends
23099 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
23101 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
23102 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
23103 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
23104 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
23105 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
23108 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
23109 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
23110 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
23112 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
23113 package called @code{nnoo}.
23115 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
23116 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
23122 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
23123 parameters. For instance:
23126 (nnoo-declare nndir
23130 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
23131 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
23134 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
23135 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
23136 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
23138 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
23139 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
23140 a function in those back ends.
23143 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23144 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23145 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23148 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
23149 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
23150 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
23152 @item nnoo-define-basics
23153 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
23157 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23161 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
23162 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
23163 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
23165 @item nnoo-map-functions
23166 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
23167 functions from the parent back ends.
23170 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23171 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23172 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
23175 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
23176 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
23177 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
23178 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
23181 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
23182 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
23183 haven't already been defined.
23189 nnmh-request-newgroups)
23193 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
23194 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
23195 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
23200 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
23203 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
23204 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23208 (require 'nnheader)
23212 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
23214 (nnoo-declare nndir
23217 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23218 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23219 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23221 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
23222 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
23225 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
23227 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
23228 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
23229 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
23231 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
23232 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
23234 ;;; Interface functions.
23236 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23238 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
23239 (setq nndir-directory
23240 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
23242 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
23243 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
23244 (push `(nndir-current-group
23245 ,(file-name-nondirectory
23246 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23248 (push `(nndir-top-directory
23249 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23251 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
23253 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23254 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23255 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23256 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
23257 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
23261 nnmh-status-message
23263 nnmh-request-newgroups))
23269 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23270 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23272 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
23273 @findex gnus-declare-backend
23274 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
23275 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
23276 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
23278 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
23279 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
23284 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
23287 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
23289 The abilities can be:
23293 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
23295 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
23297 This back end supports both mail and news.
23299 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
23302 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
23303 articles and groups.
23305 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
23306 true for almost all back ends.
23307 @item prompt-address
23308 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
23309 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
23310 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
23314 @node Mail-like Back Ends
23315 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
23317 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
23318 back ends is the heavy dependence by the mail back ends on common
23319 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
23320 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
23323 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
23324 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
23325 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
23328 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
23329 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
23332 This function takes four parameters.
23336 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
23339 @item exit-function
23340 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
23342 @item temp-directory
23343 Where the temporary files should be stored.
23346 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
23347 performed for one group only.
23350 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
23351 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
23352 find the article number assigned to this article.
23354 The function also uses the following variables:
23355 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
23356 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
23357 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
23358 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
23362 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
23363 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
23367 @node Score File Syntax
23368 @subsection Score File Syntax
23370 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
23371 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
23372 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
23374 Here's a typical score file:
23378 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
23385 BNF definition of a score file:
23388 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
23389 element = rule / atom
23390 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
23391 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
23392 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
23393 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
23395 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
23396 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
23397 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
23398 date-header = "date"
23399 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23400 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23401 score = "nil" / <integer>
23402 date = "nil" / <natural number>
23403 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
23404 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
23405 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
23406 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
23407 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23408 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23409 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
23410 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
23411 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
23412 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
23413 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
23414 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
23415 exclude-files / read-only / touched
23416 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
23417 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
23418 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
23419 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
23420 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
23421 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
23422 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
23423 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
23424 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
23425 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
23426 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
23427 eval = "eval" space <form>
23428 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
23431 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
23434 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
23435 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
23436 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
23437 one looong line, then that's ok.
23439 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
23440 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
23444 @subsection Headers
23446 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
23447 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
23448 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
23449 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
23451 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
23452 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
23453 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
23454 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
23455 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
23456 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
23457 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
23459 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
23460 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
23461 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
23462 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
23463 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
23465 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
23466 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
23472 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
23473 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
23475 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
23476 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
23477 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
23478 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
23480 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
23484 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
23487 is transformed into
23490 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
23493 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
23494 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
23497 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
23500 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
23501 is slightly tricky:
23504 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
23510 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
23513 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
23519 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
23526 and is equal to the previous range.
23528 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
23529 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
23530 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
23534 range = simple-range / normal-range
23535 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
23536 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
23537 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
23538 number *[ " " contents ]
23541 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
23542 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
23543 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
23544 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
23545 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
23550 @subsection Group Info
23552 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
23553 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
23554 describes the group.
23556 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
23557 second is a more complex one:
23560 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
23562 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
23563 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
23565 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
23568 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
23569 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
23570 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
23571 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
23572 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
23573 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
23574 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
23575 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
23576 this section is about.
23578 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
23579 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
23580 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
23582 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
23585 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
23586 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
23587 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
23588 group = quote <string> quote
23589 ralevel = rank / level
23590 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23591 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
23592 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
23594 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
23595 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
23596 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
23597 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
23600 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
23601 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
23604 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
23605 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
23608 @item gnus-info-group
23609 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
23610 @findex gnus-info-group
23611 @findex gnus-info-set-group
23612 Get/set the group name.
23614 @item gnus-info-rank
23615 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
23616 @findex gnus-info-rank
23617 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
23618 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
23620 @item gnus-info-level
23621 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
23622 @findex gnus-info-level
23623 @findex gnus-info-set-level
23624 Get/set the group level.
23626 @item gnus-info-score
23627 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
23628 @findex gnus-info-score
23629 @findex gnus-info-set-score
23630 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
23632 @item gnus-info-read
23633 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
23634 @findex gnus-info-read
23635 @findex gnus-info-set-read
23636 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
23638 @item gnus-info-marks
23639 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
23640 @findex gnus-info-marks
23641 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
23642 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
23644 @item gnus-info-method
23645 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
23646 @findex gnus-info-method
23647 @findex gnus-info-set-method
23648 Get/set the group select method.
23650 @item gnus-info-params
23651 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
23652 @findex gnus-info-params
23653 @findex gnus-info-set-params
23654 Get/set the group parameters.
23657 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
23658 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
23660 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
23661 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
23662 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
23663 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
23666 @node Extended Interactive
23667 @subsection Extended Interactive
23668 @cindex interactive
23669 @findex gnus-interactive
23671 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
23672 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
23673 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
23676 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
23677 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
23682 The best thing to do would have been to implement
23683 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
23684 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
23685 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
23686 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
23687 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
23688 @code{interactive}.
23690 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
23695 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
23696 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
23700 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
23701 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
23702 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
23705 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
23709 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
23713 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
23719 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
23720 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
23724 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
23725 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
23726 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
23728 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
23729 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
23730 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
23731 Gnus, that's very useful.
23733 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
23734 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
23735 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
23736 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
23737 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
23738 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
23739 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
23740 following function:
23743 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
23747 (,function ,@@args))
23751 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
23752 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
23753 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
23756 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
23757 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
23758 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
23760 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
23761 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
23762 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
23765 @node Various File Formats
23766 @subsection Various File Formats
23769 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
23770 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
23774 @node Active File Format
23775 @subsubsection Active File Format
23777 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
23778 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
23781 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
23784 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
23785 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
23786 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
23787 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
23788 no.general 1000 900 y
23791 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
23794 active = *group-line
23795 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
23796 group = <non-white-space string>
23798 high-number = <non-negative integer>
23799 low-number = <positive integer>
23800 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
23803 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
23804 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
23807 @node Newsgroups File Format
23808 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
23810 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
23811 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
23812 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
23815 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
23816 Here's the definition:
23820 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
23821 group = <non-white-space string>
23823 description = <string>
23828 @node Emacs for Heathens
23829 @section Emacs for Heathens
23831 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
23832 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
23833 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
23834 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
23835 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
23836 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
23837 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
23841 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
23842 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
23847 @subsection Keystrokes
23851 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
23854 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
23857 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
23858 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
23859 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
23860 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
23861 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
23862 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
23864 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
23865 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
23866 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
23867 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
23868 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
23869 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
23870 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
23872 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
23873 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
23874 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
23875 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
23876 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
23877 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
23878 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
23880 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
23881 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
23882 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
23883 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
23884 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
23890 @subsection Emacs Lisp
23892 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
23893 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
23894 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
23895 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
23897 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
23898 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
23899 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
23900 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
23901 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
23902 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
23903 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
23906 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
23907 write the following:
23910 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
23913 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
23914 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
23915 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
23918 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
23919 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
23920 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
23921 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
23922 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
23924 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
23925 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
23926 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
23930 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
23934 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
23937 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
23938 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
23941 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
23944 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
23945 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
23948 @include gnus-faq.texi
23968 @c Local Variables:
23970 @c coding: iso-8859-1
23972 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
23973 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
23974 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
23975 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
23976 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref